My World Could Be Yours
by playintherain
Summary: Hello ChiFi lovers. This story is about Gabriela Dawson, a paramedic in charge who just moved back from Florida after returning from Iraq. She has a five year old daughter named Alexis. When things started to get rough for them they moved to Chicago to stay close to family. Find out how their story unravels. #Dawsey beauty written all over this fanfic.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1.**

"Alright." "Yes." "OK." "I said yes Antonio. I'll be there."

Gabby hung up the call from her brother. She did not want to go anywhere that night, let alone see people. Tomorrow marked the day her best friend died in combat. He should have not been there. She blamed herself every day. Sometimes she dreams about him and wakes up crying. Feeling a tear drop on her cheek, she quickly wiped it with the corner of her cardigan. She was standing right in the middle of what seems to be her new home. Having moved back to Chicago after touring the world with her five year old daughter, which she needed to do after losing the one person she knew had her back just like her brother did. Well, Antonio still got her back and she knows that, it was different with him but with Marco; they cared for each other deeply. Even though they did not have the courage to admit it to one another, they loved each other. The last night they shared together was very special. They did not speak about it the next day, not because it turned tragic, but because they valued their friendship more than what they shared that night. Gabby felt her insides tighten. She started to pace around the apartment that she lived with her daughter. Marco's daughter. She really wanted to stop feeling this way. Marco would have wanted her to move on and not cry for him every single day. Marco would have wanted her to be happy and live her life despite the fact that he promised they would come back to America together but he broke that promise. Gabby was now getting angry, but still sad.

"When is this pain going to stop?"

She heard her own voice echo and realized that she had screamed. That's when she thought that her brother was right, she needed to go out and be around other people. Maybe that would take her mind off of her grief.

There was a knock at the door.

"I'll be right out" Gabby yelled.

"Please open the door, I know you're going to take your time," Antonio responded.

Gabby was starting to doubt going out as a good idea. She looked herself in the mirror where a picture of her and Marco was placed. They looked so happy. Marco was nibbling her ear with his tongue and she had thought it was gross bursting into laughter as their colleague captioned the magnificent shot. She loved that photo. She loves it, Gabby thought to herself. Now there was banging at the door which startled her. She wiggled her body trying to shake away the memories filling her mind at this point. Grabbing her purse and leather jacket, she ran down the stairs. Hearing Antonio complaining about her always being late which isn't true because she's always early. She just did not want to go anywhere. When Gabby opened the door, she was met by smiles from her brother and a tall blonde woman. Antonio hugged his sister so tightly she squirmed. Her eyes were still on this woman.

"Antonio, let go," she finally complained.

He still becomes so excited to see her every time. She was gone for five whole years including the year she was in Iraq with Marco. When she got back, she was in Chicago for only a few weeks to be with Marco's family and give her respects before she went off on her own 5 month voyage.

"I can't believe you let my Lexi go to the Dominican alone!" Antonio said after letting Gabby off the hug, his hands were on her shoulders though.

"She's not alone Toni, she's with her abuella... and her cousins, your kids remember?" Gabby exclaimed trying to escape from her brother's tight grip.

"I know, I meant without you." He replied, "You've never let her out of your sight."

"Ok now you're exaggerating." Gabby raised her eyebrows disagreeing with her brother and they both laughed.

"Hi I'm Gabriela Dawson." Gabby said extending her right hand to the woman that Antonio brought along smiling.

"Oh! This is Leslie. She's my annoying paramedic neighbour." Antonio finally said.

Gabby and Leslie shook hands. Smiling. Leslie instantly felt a connection there. She did though feel like she read some sort of sadness in Gabby's eyes. She does have a beautiful smile though, Leslie thought to herself.

"Thanks for your polite intro Antonio." Shay smirked at him.

"She's straight." Antonio whispered to Leslie as he pulled both ladies down the stairs walking between them across the road to his car.

"I know she's your sister Antonio, but I don't think you know anything about being gay," Leslie replied, "I'm telling you my gaydar is on point." She said smacking Antonio's butt before grabbing Gabby and running to the other side of the car laughing hysterically. Gabby found herself giggling and smiling from ear to ear at the events happening right in front of her. She likes this Leslie girl, Gabby thought to herself smiling.

"So how do you guys know each other?" Gabby asked when they finally got on the road to where, she had no idea.

"Shay lives a block from my house, but I swear it feels like she lives right next door." Antonio smirked, "She carpools with me everywhere I go."

"I do not"

"Do too"

"Not"

"Too"

Gabby giggled at these two people who seem to be having the time of their lives. She likes seeing her brother happy especially after his divorce. He's calmer and seems to have grown from what he had to go through. It was not a messy divorce, but Gabby remembers how her brother was depressed and skinny when she came back from Iraq. She had been dealing with her own personal matters but she did make time to comfort her brother. They were there for each other, just like old times when Gabby used to get in to trouble and her brother would bail her out. She was not reckless or a criminal, but trouble seemed to follow her. When she finally decided to take a step and change her life by serving her country, she was inspired by her then best friend Marco who had been enlisted. He did not like the idea of Gabby coming along to a war country. She had convinced him that she was only going there as a first response medical personnel. She was volunteering to offer medical aid to the soldiers in combat. She had told herself that she was doing it to look out for Marco. And to spend more time with him of course. They had promised to look out for each other.

"Helloooo.." Leslie was snapping her fingers at Gabby who jumped a little bringing her hand to her chest indicating her fright.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, are you ok?" Leslie asked concerned.

Gabby swallowed and blinked. She did not want to talk about anything. Not this. To anyone. So she did what she does best.

"Yea. I'm sorry." She paused, shaking her head "…Just lost. In. my own thoughts." She let out a small laugh.

"Alright! We're here." Antonio announced.

Gabby looked out the window only to see they were parked by an old looking bar in some weird neighbourhood. She raised her eyebrow to her brother who knew exactly what she was saying without even saying anything.

"I promise you're gonna love it."

She tilted her head trying to get more information of what her brother was trying to say to her. She was not a crowd's person and he knew that.

"This bar is owned by 2 firefighters from 51 and this annoying human being right here" Antonio said as he poked Shay on her ticklish spot which made her jump laughing and slapping Antonio's hands.

"Oh wow!" Gabby said smiling. "That's…" she did not know what to say, "I mean wow!" She smiled again.

There was silence.

"Heeeyyy guys!" Otis screamed opening the door for Shay. "You're late. You think this bar is going to run itself?" He said walking to Gabby's side. "And who's this lovely beautiful thing right here?"

Gabby could only smile as she got out the car.

"This is my friend Gabby." Shay said.

"Well hello Gabby…" Otis said in a flirtatious tone, he let out his hand to greet Gabby only to be pushed aside by Shay who put her arm over Gabby's shoulders guiding her to walk from Otis.

"Not so fast mister." She said to Otis walking past him with Gabby under her arm. "I'm just messing with him. He's harmless." Shay whispered to Gabby as they walked in the bar full of people screaming, some arm wrestling on bar tables, others making out in the corners.

"Wow!" That's all Gabby could say.

Antonio walked in behind them and placed a kiss on Gabby's cheek.

"Have fun sis. OK!" Gabby smiled and nodded. Shay let go of Gabby jumping in front of her as if summoning her to the Queen.

"Welcome to the sacred place – Molly's." She shouted over the noise of drunk firefighters, police officers, and people from the neighbourhood.

Gabby only laughed. She likes Leslie, thinking to herself. She thought Shay seemed like a carefree, humorous, and loving person who she could see being really good friends with. They are totally opposite. Gabby is reserved and private. Funny yes, that's what Marco used to say to her, but more laid back. Gabby used to be crazy though. She and Marco used to say their Motto was to cease life. They were spontaneous and unpredictable. One day in high school they flew to Vegas with fake ID's done by Marco's cousin and got drunk to the point where they found themselves in the middle of the dessert with no memories of the previous day and no clue of their whereabouts. They had no shoes on, no money, no "ID's", no phones, nothing. They sat there and they laughed, and laughed, and laughed until they could not anymore. Antonio found them after two days out of concern that her sister was in danger. Gabby was shaking her head and smiling to herself when Shay grabbed her.

"Come meet the rest of 51." She said really excited to show off her new friend.

They maneuvered their way in the crowd to where a crowd of what looked like firefighters were. The Black Hawks were playing and Gabby reckoned that most of the crowd were big fans.

"Hey guys" Leslie screamed as they reached the table.

No one looked away from the big screen that Herman had put up which they use only for big nights like this one. Molly's is a great place where firefighters, police officers, doctors, the people who are out here risking their lives to save this city all come together in one place to have a piece of mind. It has become the spot for all of them and they loved it. Gabby has been smiling since. Looking at her new friend Shay who kept trying to get the guys attention but was failing. She was even threatening to turn off the screen if they did not give her 5 seconds of their time.

"Hey" Gabby tried to call out to Shay who was standing on top of the stool railing so as to be seen.

"Hey Leslie," Gabby yelled louder now, Shay turned to see Gabby flicking her hands motioning her to step down.

"What, I'm gonna turn it off I swear…"

"Don't worry about it." Gabby said laughing, "Let them enjoy their game. Can I have a beer?"

"Oh girl!" Shay jumped, "Of course. I totally forgot to offer you one. Come lets go to the bar side." "Hey Herman," Shay yelled as they approached the bar, "Grab me 2 beers there please."

"I'm working. Why don't you get them yourself? You also work here remember?" Herman replied screaming back as the noise echoed in the room.

The Hawks were winning. Gabby was staring at the big screen smiling. She remembered how good Marco used to be good at hockey and she would watch every single game.

"Be right back," Shay tapped Gabby leaving her sitting on the stool by the bar as she walked round to be on the other side where she would serve people drinks. Gabby turned to watch the game.

"Two beers please." Gabby heard a man and a woman screaming so loudly right behind her.

"I'll go find us a place to sit babe," the woman yelled, this time it was right through Gabby's ears. She turned to see what was going on and saw a tall brunette lady walk away leaving a blonde man, well built, a loose sweater slightly folded on his arm, and dark jeans standing by the counter so close to her his cologne hovered her. The man who had asked for the beers was texting, he put his phone in his pocket when the beers arrived and turned to go find his girlfriend only to find Gabby staring at him.

"Hi," he said smiling.

 _How can a person look this good?_ Gabby asked herself. "Hi," she managed to shake herself from her thoughts and greeted the man. He held both beers in one hand so he could shake Gabby's hand with the other. They smiled at each other and stood there for a moment. They did not take their eyes off each other and weirdly, Gabby did not feel a slight embarrassment. She was never good with flirting with boys or relationship stuff. Her one and only friend had been a boy and she fell in love with him. At this moment, she felt comfortable even if this man standing right in front of her was staring right into her eyes.

"There you go sweety," Shay slammed a beer in front of Gabby making the two jump, "Oh hey Matt, going solo tonight? Where's Hallie?" She asked smiling after sipping her beer.

Matt swallowed and finally took his eyes off Gabby who was now looking down. "She's finding us a place to… oh there she is," He said as he stole a glimpse at Gabby before ducking away. There was silence.

"That's Matthew Casey, he's a truck Lieutenant at 51." Shay finally spoke. Gabby only listened. She did not want to say anything in case she said something stupid or embarrassed herself. "And that's his fiancé or not fiancé Hallie, she works at Lakeshore hospital." She said sipping her beer once again.

"What you mean?" Gabby finally asked, it seemed she was interested in knowing more about this Matt guy. He seemed calm and nice. She had felt his blue steamy eyes pierce right through and instantly felt something. Only disappointed to see him with someone. Let alone a woman who is supposedly his fiancé. She shrugged.

"They break up all the time I've lost count." Shay answered Gabby's question, "Severide always tells him to just call it quits once and for all he just doesn't listen." She sipped her beer before continuing. Gabby was listening attentively to her new friend who was leaning against the bar top in order to not scream as she spoke with her friend. "But you know, we're his friends and we'll always be here for him. Every time he comes home whining that they broke up, we just gotta sit there and listen." She said waving her beer in the air. Gabby was now looking out at the couple who were laughing and drinking their beer. She could not understand how two hot people who had awesome jobs and awesome friends could make each other unhappy. They seemed happy though, she thought. Matt caught a glimpse of Gabby looking at their table and smiled. Gabby quickly ducked to face Shay but found her moving about serving people drinks.

"Let's get out of here, I feel like dancing." Shay said at around 11pm. She went to the back to grab her purse and came around with Antonio. "You mister are our designated driver for the night." She said grabbing Gabby and walking towards the door. "Hey guys, we're going to Absolute club on 9th, you coming?" Shay asked Matt and his party who sat at the table by the exit.

"We were actually trying to figure out where to take this party," Hallie said as she stood dancing and Gabby smiled.

"Sure let's go! Wohooo!" Shay shouted, Gabby could see her friend was already tipsy so she held on to her.

"Have you seen Severide?" Gabby felt someone breathe on her neck and she quickly turned to find Matt standing so close to her.

"Aah…" Gabby was lost of words. First of all, who the hell is Sever… Sever… whatever his name was, and how would she know? She thought to herself still standing in one position. She was not even holding Shay anymore and everyone but her and Matt were still in the bar.

"Are you ok?" Matt asked Gabby who was still standing there and had a confused look on her face.

"Uh, yea. Im…Im good," she gave him a double thumbs up and [resed her lips together," "thanks. I have not seen your friend, sorry." She finally said before quickly walking out the bar to find Shay.

Their night was fun. Gabby decided to let loose since her brother was there to look out for her. She was not going on shift the next day since she did not get any response to where she was going to be placed. So she decided to have fun and drink, and dance with her new cool friend. She noticed Matt and Hallie talking at one corner and at one point Hallie had stormed off to the bathrooms. The two seemed to have been in an argument. Shay and Gabby danced, sang along to the music, laughed, and enjoyed their night.

Gabby woke up feeling sore. Her head wasn't spinning anymore but she felt her body sore. She checked the time and could not believe it was almost 3pm already. They left the club at 6 in the morning and drove around the city and ended up by the lake. At that point, Gabby only remember seeing Shay, Antonio, Otis, and Matt. She could not recall seeing anyone else or even seeing them leave. She doesn't even remember getting home, but she reckoned Antonio had taken her.

Gabby decided to take a long cool shower. This time she did not cry in the shower. The hole that she had carried around all these years did not feel empty no more. She felt something there. Her thoughts drifted to the night before and realized that Shay was filling that hole. She was glad her brother introduced her to Shay. She walked to her room and put on some sweatpants and a vest before tying her wet hair in a bun that her daughter loved to copy. Letting out a big sigh, she stood in the middle of her messy room with her hands to her hips. She decided to call her aunt who had taken her daughter to Dominican Republic with her cousins. She was resistant to be separated from her daughter for so long, but she felt that it would be good for Lexi to be around her cousins and also visit their home.

"Hey sweetie,"  
"Hi mama, guess what?" Lexi sounded, excited on the other line, "Abuella Dorothy took us to the beach and we learnt how to surf, I still got a long way to go, but I can teach you some of the tricks they showed us. The sunset is so pretty, and we had dinner outside last night and the stars were shining so bright mama. It was magical. You should come with us next time." Gabby listened as her daughter went on and on about her visit to the Dominican. She loved that her daughter was happy. It made her even happier.

"Alright sweetheart, that sounds like you're having the time of your life. Como estas?" Gabby said and knew her daughter was ok but asked anyway,

"Muy bien mama, thanks for letting me come with abuela," Lexi responded sounding even more excited.

"Of course honey. Well, save some stories to tell me when you get back. You should see your new room baby, it's purple, and humongous."

"I have my own room?" Lexi screamed out of excitement. She was jumping up and down to the thought of not sleeping with her mother every night and not having space for her scooter, her trucks, her mini lab, or any space to pretend she's at the stadium playing hockey.

"I love you sweety, I can't wait for you to come to Chicago," Gabby said smiling.

"Me too mama. Te amo."

"Alright sweetie, let me speak to abuela," "Thanks for everything aunty,"

"Of cource Rie, we'll call you tomorrow." Dorothy responded,

"I miss her so much, this is the first time we've been apart for this long," Gabby said in a sad tone.

"Don't worry mia mor, she's in good hands." Her aunt assured her trying to console her. She was there when her sister and brother in law died. She had taken in Gabby and her brother and raised them like her own children. She loved them dearly. Now she feels like Lexi is her own granddaughter and she brought her so much joy. "She'll be back in your arms in a week to start school. Right now, concentrate on getting your life on the ground ok." She said, speaking out of the love she had for her sister's child.

"Yes mama. Te amo. Adios." Gabby hung up the phone. She looked around and decided to go downstairs to get some ice-cream before she could start the general cleaning. She sang along to a playlist of her most favourite tracks while cleaning, unpacking, and putting aside some items she did not want to keep to be donated. Antonio had dropped off her stuff from their old house even when she had asked him not to telling him that she needed a fresh start. Suddenly she was glad he did. The boxes were filled with everything from her childhood up to the day she decided to leave for Iraq. Hours passed and it started to be dark out. Antonio and Shay had called her earlier checking on how she was doing and she had told them not to worry. She did realize that she had no food in the house so Shay offered to bring her take-out. Feeling so hungry, she opened a jar of peanut butter and started at it. She did not want to bother Shay since she was already doing her a favour. Moments later, there was a knock at the door and she jumped excited that Shay finally arrived and she would finally eat.

"Hello again," Matt said trying to shake her hand but he was carrying take-out so he couldn't. Gabby was speechless so she stood there with her mouth open. She felt the whole panic attack approaching. Taking deep breaths she held on to the door. "Sorry…I aah... Shay has a crazy hangover and she asked me to bring you food saying you were starving?" Matt explained, which calmed Gabby.

"I'm so sorry... I… sure…" Swallowing hard, she moved to the side to let him in. Matt walked in and stood by the hallway, "Oh! Sorry…" Gabby bumped into him as she turned after closing the door.

"No I'm sorry." Matt replied. Gabby walked to the kitchen motioning Matt to follow her. "Excuse the boxes, and all the mess. I'm still unpacking." Matt only nodded. He wanted to ask more. Know more without sounding too inquisitive or nosey. Gabby seemed like a nice girl, he did not get the chance to speak with her last night so he got it today.

"Would you like to have some?" Gabby asked Matt who seemed to be lost in thoughts,

"Yes please, I'm starving. Thank you." Matt said,

"No, thank you. For bringing me dinner. You didn't have to, my brother could have picked me something." Gabby said feeling embarrassed that this total stranger was in her house and feeding her.

"Shay said she called your brother first but the station said he was out on a case, and she had called her best friend Severide but figured that would not be ideal since you've not met him yet." Matt explained running out of breath.

"So she sent you?" Gabby acted confused since she hardly knows Matt as well.

"I guess she trusts me with you." Matt smiled which killed Gabby. She felt her insides burning. She did not understand what was happening. She started to feel butterflies in her stomach and wanted to slap herself but stopped before Matt could think she was a lunatic.

"Well, thanks for this, I hope I did not inconvenience you in any way." Matt only smiled. Gabby smiled back. They sat on the one couch that was in the middle of the living room eating their dinner in silence. Matt helped Gabby pack the dishes into the washer before they went to sit out at the back terrace.

"You have a nice garden," Matt finally broke the silence which was starting to be awkward.

"Oh Thanks… I found it here though…" Gabby felt that sounded silly, "I just moved back to Chicago." She was glad she recovered from that statement.

"Cool. Where did you live?" Matt asked making himself comfortable by shifting the pillows on the swing chair, leaning back to look at the stars. Gabby found herself staring at Matt smiling without saying a word. She shook her head trying to come back to reality. She started to speak silently to herself to let it be clear that nothing was going to happen. They just met and Matt is in a relationship. Complicated or not, as she witnessed, she did not want to get caught in between any of it. She was just starting her life in Chicago and was looking for a clean slate. Matt caught Gabby smiling at him, "Is everything alright?"

"Uhmm, yea… I'm good. Thanks." She lied, she was burning on the inside.

Matt's phone rang and he excused himself. Gabby sat there looking at the few stars in the sky. "What. The Hell. Is going on?" she was looking up as if trying to get an answer from God. Exactly this time 6 years ago she lost a very important man in her life, and now she's moving back to the place where they met with their daughter to start a new life. She did not want anything to compromise that. Gabby got up picking the beer bottles from the glass table to go throw them in the bin.

"Fine. You do what you wanna do Hallie." Matt yelled, though trying not to be heard. Gabby swiftly tip-toed trying not to be noticed. "What are you doing?" Matt asked smiling, his eyebrows raised and forehead squinted trying to figure out what Gabby was doing. Gabby jumped, a lil frightened.

"Uh..Uhmm.." letting out a small chuckle, she held up the beer bottles trying to show Matt that she was not trying to eavesdrop or anything, "just going to throw away the empty bottles." Matt only smiled. Shaking his head, he asked for another beer.

Matt and Gabby spent the next hour chatting about Matt's life. His journey as a firefighter. His family. Well, some parts of it. They started to talk about 51. Gabby let Matt know that she had applied to be placed at a firehouse to be a paramedic and Matt suggested she come to 51. Gabby told him that Chief Boden and her father go a long way, so she was already going to 51 which made Matt happy. Boden called her a couple of times but she was still sleeping, he left a message letting her know to come to shift at 51 the next day. He did not know why he was liking the idea of Gabby working at 51, but he found himself smiling. Gabby suggested for Matt to leave after getting another call from Hallie. "She needs you. Go on now." Gabby had said. Matt bit his lower lip. He didn't understand what was going on. His thoughts were all over the place. Gabby smiled at him pushing him out the door. Matt pretended not wanting to go by dragging his feet as Gabby pushed him. They played like they were kids. After closing and locking the door, Gabby shook her head giggling. Matt was on the other side. He realized Gabby hadn't moved away from the door. He stood there still. Smiling. He finally walked to his car, taking one last look at the door, he left.

...

 **Yaay! So I uploaded the first chapter of MWCBY. Thank you soo much for reading. Please don't think that I'm abandoning 'Doctor Dawson', I swear I'm not. This was actually my very first fanfic but I never uploaded it.**

 **Summary: Gabby is back in Chicago. Her brother takes her around town to loosen up and she meets Shay whom she instantly connects with. She meets Matt who later visited her at her new house.**

 **Next Chapter: Gabby starts at 51 and we experience her first shift. And maybe a lil more Dawsey to be. :)**

 **Thank you for reading. Please review.**

 **Love always,**  
 **Gaone.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well this is the first I do this. Uploading 2 chapters at once. I just could not wait. Thank you in advance for reading both these chapters. I got more and more for you guys. I hope you like the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, just the title and the storylines.**

 **Enjoy.**

 **Chapter 2.**

"I hope I get an awesome PIC, I don't wanna work with a moody person who's not fun in the ambo." Shay exclaimed standing by the squad table. "What if I get someone who smells and stinks up the ambo?" Shay said in a distasteful tone her nose squinted as if she could smell something bad. "What if I get a homophobic, sexist, rude, inconsiderate, misogynistic, psychopath who only plays hard rock music, eats stinking food on the ambo, and is a wannabe who has no leadership skills whatsoever," she paused and leaned on the squad table, "Arent you concerned?" she asked moving her head to look at each person at the table, "I mean, what if I…"

"Shay," Severide almost screamed as he looked at Shay who froze, "why don't you just wait and see who you get?" Severide cut her off and continued playing cards with his squad, "Mind over matter girl, what's with the negative atti…"

"Hi," Everyone turned to see a woman in a pair of jeans, knee-high boots, a loose shirt, and cropped hooded NYC sweater standing a few metres from them holding her duffel bag to one side. She stood there smiling for a few moments, no one said anything. They just stared at her smiling. Clearing her throat, "Uhmm, I'm Gabriela Dawson, aahh, the new PIC on Ambo 61!" Gabby said wondering why everyone was just standing there staring. At first she had thought she had something in her teeth, but she decided to break the silence and introduced herself. She recognized the people seated at the squad table from the previous night at Molly's. Shay's eyes went wide open as she jumped to hug Gabby who was startled by the greeting.

"Oh thank God!" Shay said excitedly as she hugged Gabby, "Welcome to 51 Dawson, Oh my God! This is a sign girl, we're bound to be together forever. Who knew?" Gabby nodded and just smiled at the warm welcome shaking Shay's hand. She now remembered that she did not tell Shay she was coming to 51. Everyone at squad was now gathered around Gabby hugging her to welcome her to 51. She was astonished by the warmth and excitement everyone had.

"Welcome to 51 Miss Dawson." Severide said as his turn came to hug Gabby.

"Lemme show you around," Shay offered grabbing Gabby by her arm and walking her towards the lounge. "Hey guys," Shay called out to the truck people who were seated randomly having their breakfast. "This is the new PIC, my partner, Dawson." She introduced Gabby and everyone could see her excitement written all over her entire existence. She did not get the chance to introduce her the other night at Molly's so she was happy to do so now. "Hi," Gabby said waving one hand to the guys who also just sat and stared. She was now starting to think there was something wrong with her because since getting here everyone just stared at her. Her eyes met Matt's and they both smiled. She became shy and had to come up with something to leave the room.

"Hey, aah, where can I change?" Gabby broke off the silence yet again.

"Oh yah, this way," shay replied walking Gabby to the locker rooms.

"Duuude, what just happened?" Otis finally spoke after the girls disappeared to the locker rooms.

"Don't ask me man, I'm as shocked as you are." Cruz replied to Otis turning back to watch the TV with Mouch.

"I mean, is it not against the law to have hot women work at the firehouse or something?" Otis continued, Matt looked up from his newspaper giving Otis an eyebrow to further explain his point, "Like, I think she will be a distraction," Otis shrugged, realizing his weak point he walked out the room leaving everyone bursting in laughter. "I know yall are thinking the same thing…" he had said as he stormed off.

"So where you from?" Shay wanted to know her new partner. She already likes her and had a feeling they were gonna be the best of friends.

"Ahh, I'm from Chicago. But my family is from the Dominican Republic." Gabby replied with the shortest answer of all as she changed into her paramedic uniform. That was her plan, 'keep to yourself and do you job'. She had told herself. She did not want to bring any attention to herself or open up to anyone. In the last 6 years, so much has happened in her life and she had lost too much it was exhausting. She did not want to make new friends, or be close to anyone, it only ends in disaster. She learned that the hard way. She was fine with her daughter, brother, niece and nephew, and abuella. Her best friend and daughter's father, died in Iraq before she even knew she was pregnant, her parents were in a plane that had crushed in Missouri a year before she left for Iraq, and the list goes on. She was tired of crying, and mourning her loved ones that she decided to stop trying to bring people into her life only to lose them. She made a plan that she would have a professional relationship with everyone at the firehouse and keep her distance. Her daughter was everything to her and she would make her her priority. Lexi was already a handful so that would not be a problem.

"Which company did you work for before coming to 61?" Shay continued with her questions. She did get the vibe that Gabby was not that much of a talker, but that did not stop her from being inquisitive. She wanted to be friends with her partner. She did not want to be on ambo with someone she did not like or not get along with.

"Ahh, I was never a paramedic, I went straight to Iraq from med school." Gabby replied, she did not give away too much. She again replied with the shortest answer of all as she changed into her paramedic uniform. As soon as she mentioned Iraq, she knew she had opened up a path for more questions which she regretted immediately. That was the only answer she could give her though, she tried to convince herself. Though she wanted to have a very low profile, she did not want to lie to her workmates.

"Wow! Iraq huh! That explains the tough girl look." Shay tried to make the conversation as light as possible. Gabby let out a small giggle which made Shay smile thinking of what to ask next. "So what brought you back? Someone special?" Shay joked trying to ease the air.

Gabby gave a small laugh, "Ah no," she said smiling, "I missed the snow," she said sarcastically. "How long you been at 51?" Gabby decided to change the topic from talking about her life.

"Oh! About 6 years next month," Shay said excitedly, she liked talking to her new partner and Gabby could see that. Gabby did not want to seem rude or anything so she decided to make small talk. As long as it was not about her life story, she was glad to share. "I had so many partners come and go that I'm starting to think I'm the reason they all leave," shay said jokingly but Gabby felt a sad notion from her new partner as she spoke. "I hope you're here to stay," she said leaning against the locker next to Gabby's. Gabby was tying her curls into a bun that her daughter likes and tries to copy all the time.

"I hope so too," she said, looking over her shoulder and saw Shay's smile growing and she smiled back at her. They liked each other and Shay liked her new partner.

"You had breakfast yet, Mills made French toast, pan cakes, fried eggs, oatmeal… I think he's trying to get us fat," Shay said laughing, "There's also cereal and Orange juice,"

"Uhmm yah, I think I'll have cereal thanks." Gabby smiled as they walked towards the kitchen.

"Hi," Mills said as Gabby walked in with Shay, "I didn't get your name," He said extending his hand to greet Gabby.

"Ahh, I'm Dawson. Gabby." She extended her hand to greet him and they smiled at each other. He held her hand for long still looking at her without realizing he was staring. Slowly pulling her hand from his, she swallowed and pressed her lips together squinting her eyes to brush off her embarrassment.

"Dawson!" Matt said pouring a cup of coffee,

"Yeah," Gabby replied looking at Matt,

"Welcome to 51," he said walking to take a seat and they both smiled.

"Are you related to Antonio Dawson?" Cruz asked and before Gabby could respond, he continued, "He's uhh, a detective at District 21," Gabby smiled.

"Yea…aah, he's my brother."

"Oh cool. He did say he had a sister, I never got your name though." Cruz walked towards her, "Nice to finally meet you," They shook hands before he walked back to where he was seated.

"Gabriela Dawson," The Chief said walking towards Gabby, "You made it, welcome to 51."

"Thank you Chief," Gabby swallowed. She was happy to see a familiar face. Gabby's parents and Chief Boden go a long way. He had accepted her application as soon as he saw her name on the list of potential 61 PIC's. The last time he saw her was at her parent's funeral and he had been very supportive to her and her brother.

"How are you doing?" The Chief asked in a more sympathetic tone. Gabby started to feel the room close in on her. She did not want to talk about her life let alone her grief. She felt everyone's eyes on her and swallowed. Trying to not make a big deal out of the Chief's questions.

"I'm doing great Chief. Thanks for having me in your house, I will absolutely make the best out of this opportunity." She answered vaguely as Boden walked over to hug her squeezing her so tight she let out a cough complaining that she couldn't breathe.

"C'mon," Chief nodded to Severide, Casey, and Gabby to follow him to his office.

"Gentlemen, this is Gabriela Dawson," Chief announced, "she's going to be the PIC on Ambo 61." The two gentlemen were all smiles shaking Gabby's hand. "Connie please call in Shay for me," Chief requested as he started small talk with Gabby. "So how was Iraq?" The two men shockingly turned to look at Gabby who only pressed her lips together playing with her fingers. She did that when she became nervous or felt uncertain about something.

"It was great thanks." She answered and was relieved to see Shay walk in.

"Hey Chief, you asked for me?"

"Ah yes, please help Dawson settle in." Boden replied, "And look out for her on calls."

"Chiieef," Gabby protested, "I'll be fine. We'll be fine. Thanks." She said grabbing Shay by her arm to rush out of the Chief's office back to the lounge area to have her breakfast. Shay came to sit by her and before she could speak the bells sounded.

Gabby's first call at the house was intense. As it brought back flashbacks of her trying to save the lives of the soldiers when a bomb set off in their camp. Luckily, she had gone for a walk with another doctor who also volunteered. They ran back to the camp, tears on her face as she saw people crying, holding on for dear life. She felt numb, shaking, confused, walking down to her tent she shared with Marco, that's when it hit her.

"Marco?" Gabby said in a very low tone, slowly. She swallowed hard. It's like she already knew, walking slow towards her tent, tears streaming down her cheeks uncontrollably, and she stopped at the sight of their tent completely wrecked. She screamed, no one hearing her in the midst of all other cries. The air wasn't clear enough with dust and fog messing up her view, she fell to her knees digging for Marco in piles of metal pieces and scrapes of what was left of their tent. There he was. Comatose. Without a beat, she started on the CPR, checking his breathing, he let out a small choke, and a "Gab" before taking his final breath. Gabby screamed in anger, and pain, she sat there with Marco in her hands, she cried until she couldn't anymore. Darkness approached and she still held him. Her cry was now silent. Vincent, the other doctor, finally walked up to Gabby. He felt her pain. He knew how close the two were and he felt sorry for Gabby. He sat there all night with her not saying a word wanting Gabby to take her time to mourn her friend. Gabby remembered how grateful she was that Vincent was there for her, but she never opened up to him. Now seeing a train that had come out of its tracks causing a disaster in the city, Gabby could not take it. She walked back to the ambo to take a breather. Casey noticed her standing there with her one hand held up the door and the other on her knee as she was taking deep breaths trying to calm herself down.

"Hey, you okay?" Matt asked.

"Yea." Gabby swallowed hard. "I'm fine Lieutenant. Thanks." Gabby lied, walking away from the ambo trying to avoid Matt. She went back to triage to help the victims. Gabby is a natural at what she does. She grew up wanting to be a firefighter but her parents forbid her and when they died, she promised herself to respect their wishes. That is why she went into med school at an early age and had become a resident for two days at Chicago med where her mother was a doctor for years.

"Sir, I need you to take deep breaths for me ok. Deep breaths, I'll be right with you." Gabby sweetly told the old man who was panicking. Finishing up with the little girl before assigning the other ambo to take her to the hospital, she stepped over to see her old friend. "How are we doing sir?" Gabby asked the old man who told her his name was Charles. "Alright Charles, I'm Gabby, it looks like you were not physically hurt by the crash, you're just in shock." Gabby explained as she examined Charles. "I still need you to take slow deep breaths for me ok." She asked him and the old guy did not protest. He thought Gabby was sweet so he obeyed her commands.

"Hey Dawson," Matt called out carrying a woman to triage, "you gotta help this lady out, she's bleeding."

"OK, set her down carefully." Gabby said before assuring Charles to sit tight and that she'll be back. Rushing over to the woman lying there breathing heavily, Gabby called out for Shay. "I need to incubate, her airway is blocked." Shay assisted with the equipment as Gabby worked on the woman.

"Suzie?" Charles spoke, "Suzie is that you?" he struggled to get up,

"Hey Charles, I need you to take a seat ok. You're not in good shape sir. Please sit." Gabby said looking at Matt to do something.

"She's my wife. Is…Is she…" Charles collapsed before Matt could reach him. Gabby was so busy trying to save 'Suzie' that she could not help Charles at this point. Since Shay was helping other victims, Gabby had to come up with a plan if she wanted to save this old couple.

"Ok Lieutenant. I'm gonna need you to help me out here got it?" Matt nodded. He was shaking, not knowing what Gabby was gonna make him do. He would do anything she commanded him, he thought to himself. Gabby did something to his insides. He just could not put a pin on it. She would just give him that side smile and he would just die inside, begging for the ground to swallow him before he did anything he would regret. "Casey," snapping out of his crazy thoughts, Matt looked up at Gabby. "Are you ready," Gabby asked still busy on Suzie, pumping at her chest. "Please check his pulse first," Matt did as Gabby asked, every step she told him, she was patient with him. This time Gabby was walking towards him, he felt her kneel down right behind him he thought he might just die. Wishing for her not to make contact, he jerked up when she did. Gabby did not notice the whole scene as she thought Matt only got up quick so that she would take over, which she did and attended Charles. After hours of working at the call, Dawson and Shay drove off to Chicago Med to admit patients. While there she went to check on Charles who was now awake and asking for his wife Suzie. Gabby asked the nurses if she could talk to him, she told them she was the paramedic that was on scene and had saved Charles together with her team. "Charles," Gabby called as she walked in the room slightly smiling. She was taught how to handle situations like this in medical school. She knew the steps to take and the right words to say to those who've lost their loved ones. She never wanted anyone to have the same experience she had when a doctor had told her and her brother that their parents had died. It was almost like he was stabbing them right in the heart.

"It's our fortieth anniversary and I wanted to surprise her." Charles broke down crying, "She didn't even wanna go to this stupid picnic."

"I'm so sorry Charles." Gabby said with Charles crying hysterically. She held him in her arms for a while till he fell asleep. Shay stood at the entrance watching as her partner consoled the old man.

"That was one first shift huh?" Candidate Peter Mills said at Gabby who did not hear him as she just walked past him. Mills only raised his eyebrows thinking she probably handled way too much at the call. Gabby was lying face down on her bunk bed. She missed this, she was nervous about her first day on ambo. She did not go work on ambo after moving to Florida with her daughter. She did some work in a clinic before deciding to move to Chicago at Antonio's request. He knew she needed his help, especially being a single mother. So he had constantly begged her to move to Chicago. He had understood why she did not want to, but he knew she needed family and Lexie as well. It made him so happy when he visited them on Christmas and she had agreed to move back to her home city.

Not wanting to speak to anyone, she tried to get some sleep on her bunk bed. She heard a female voice call Matt and just ignored it trying to catch some sleep to get her mind off things. Gabby jumped bumping her head on the metal piece at the corner of the shelf by her bed to the sounds of something breaking, then a door slam with a lady stomping off yelling and screaming "I hate you!"

She blinked a couple of times squinting, blinded by the lights she rubbed her eyes and felt the pain from her mini accident kick in.

"Aaah.." she touched the bruised spot and started to rub it to avoid swelling. Matt heard the small sound Gabby produced and walked over to her side. He stood there watching her examine herself in the small mirror by her bedside. Matt cleared his throat trying to get Gabby's attention. He wanted to check if Gabby had witnessed the fight he had with Hallie. He didn't know why, but he had wanted to know if she did, maybe to see what her reaction was. Gabby turned to see him standing there with his hands in his pockets. _Damn he is fine_. Gabby thought to herself. "Wassup Lieutenant?" she finally spoke noticing that she was staring. Matt only studied her, trying to read her face. Gabby looked around her trying to figure out what Matt was doing or rather looking at. "Casey, are you alright?" She broke the awkward silence, Matt came back to his senses,

"Of course. I'm fine." He smiled, and Gabby smiled back. _Is this girl trying to seduce me?_ Matt wondered.

"Hey," he felt a hand touch him, snapping out of his thoughts, he found Gabby standing there. Right next to him touching his arm. "Are you sure you're ok?" Matt could only nod at this moment. Swallowing hard, he managed to free himself of that burning touch. He felt like he was being tortured. Tortured by a woman he has only known for a day or two. A woman who seems to be carrying the world's biggest problems on her tiny shoulders. Suddenly the room started to feel so small. Why was she still standing there? He thought.

"Gabby," Shay called walking in from the conference room. "Shall we do inventory? I think we need to stock up. After that call…whew!" Matt was relieved to see Shay there and that she was taking Gabby away from him before… before... he shook the crazy thoughts from his head walking back to his quarters. The rest of the shift was quiet and they managed to get some sleep before parting ways the next day. Gabby was just excited because her daughter had arrived in the city that night and her brother was to pick them up from the airport.

...

 **Next Chapter: Lexi comes to Chicago, yaay! Then Shay learns more about her new friend. A lil Dawsey feels maybe? You won't have to wait to long to find out.**

 **Thank you so much for reading. When i see that a lot of you guys are reading and reviewing, the faster I upload the next chapter. *wink**

 **Love always,  
Gaone.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello my loves. Thank you for reading and reviewing. Yall are awesome. I probably have about 7 chapters ready but just need me to re-read them and make a few edits. Don't worry, I will make sure to post cautiously. If you're sweet, I can post sooner than you think and spend sleepless night writing more chapters.**

 **Thank you guys. I hope you enjoy this cute short chapter.**

 **Love yall.**

 **Chapter 3.**

"Mama," Lexi happily shouted running towards her mother who came to pick her up from her brother's house. Gabby knelt and opened her arms for her daughter to fall into her hugs. Gabby started to tickle her giving her small kisses all over.

"I missed you so much muy bella." she said to her smilling fron ear to ear and tears almost forming in her eyes. She couldn't even believe how she managed to go every day without her daughter by her.

"I missed you two mama." Lexie replied with the same emotions as her mother. There are days when she cried because she had missed her so much. She was also not used to being somewhere without her mother especially for so long. They sat on the porch and talked endlessly. Lexi was telling her mother about her trip to the Dominican Republic. The friends she made, the food she ate, all of it. She did not even want to stop when her Abuela Dorothy called them for dinner. She wished her mother had gone with them but Gabby had made it clear that she had to start work. "Can I sleep in my new room tonight mama?" Lexi had excitedly asked as they had dinner.

"Yea of course sweetie. You and I are going to our new home right after dessert." Gabby said smiling at her sweet child. Oh, how much she loved her. She thought to herself. She's the main reason why she had pushed through in life. Her daughter gave her strength and hope.

Gabby and Lexi made their way home where Lexi finally saw her new room. She was so happy and even asked that her mom sleep with her in there. The two were so happy to be reunited as they fell asleep on Lexi's single bed.

"Let's go Lexi," Gabby called out to her daughter, "it's your first day you don't want be late hun." She was packing Lexi's lunch. Lexi was trying to tie her hair in a bun to look like her mom. She was standing on a stool in her mother's bathroom to see herself in the mirror.

"C'mon bug," Gabby said walking in the bathroom to help her daughter with her hair, "How would you like your hair today?"

"In a bun like yours," Lexi said with a smile revealing the gap between her teeth. Gabby detangled her daughter's curls pulling it to the top making a loose bun and tied it with purple bow ribbons.

"Mooomm!" Lexi grinned annoyed, "I don't want the purple ribbons, and I thought you replaced them with the Black ones?" She folded her arms how her mother usually does when she wanted to get her to do something or making a point.

"I know sweetheart, I didn't get the chance to go to the clothes stores this week with us moving back here and all." Gabby said in her sweet voice apologising to her daughter, "I'll do it first thing tomorrow after shift ok." Gabby was off for at-least the next 36 hours, but she took it upon herself to continue her medical path so she was doing rounds at Chicago med with a friend she met when she and Shay dropped off patients there.

"How about you wait for me to come home from school and we can go together?" Excited, Lexi said with her hands on her mother's cheeks who bent to tie the little girl's shoes.

"Sure, I'll pick you up from school tomorrow. You'll be staying over at Uncle Tonio's place tonight ok." Gabby stood up straight and poked her daughter's nose who nodded squinting her eyes, both smiling. "Alright champ, ready?"

"I'm ready. Are you?" Lexi replied in a sassy tone pouting her lips and that did not go unnoticed.

"Let's go then." Gabby said lifting her daughter and grabbing her daughter's overnight bag, her school bag, as well as her bag.

She dropped Lexi at her new school who seemed to not have a problem with her mom leaving her there around new people. She was never a shy kid. At 5, Lexi was so mature for her age. Her teachers from her previous school suggested she start first grade early since she was smarter than all the other kids and seemed to be bored in class. Gabby decided she would let her go into first grade at six which was approaching soon. She didn't like seeing her daughter grow up so fast. And since it was just the two of them, she wanted her to stay as the little cute, and sweet girl she is and not turn into a difficult teenage girl just yet. After dropping off her daughter at a private school in their neighbourhood, she drove to the hospital.

Days passed. And Gabby was fitting in just fine at 51. Everyone knew her as the mysterious new PIC who never disclosed anything about her life or feelings. She seemed to judge things from a far perspective as if protecting her wall from being taken down by her own opinions. She kept to herself and at this point everyone knew that. When Shay tried to make small talk by asking her how she went to med school and never became a doctor, she only shrugged and said "Shit happens." Shay even went to the extent of asking Antonio who only told her what he knew. _'Gabby decided to leave Chicago Med because she used to get nightmares of our parents dying there and our mother working there for so many years. She left her brief residency to go volunteer in Iraq with her best friend who died there,_ ' he had said. How? He didn't know the details. But he knew Marco well, and he never liked the guy because he got Gabby into trouble all the time. He was reckless and to this day, Antonio still thinks Gabby wouldn't be going through what she was going through if he had not influenced her to sign up for the stupid project and go with him to Iraq. He noticed his sister's change when she got back. She was not the enthusiastic, humorous, and jolly person he knew she was. Even though she annoyed the hell out of him, he still loved her. She was happy. Now he sees it in her eyes, she's depressed. Though she tries so hard to hide it and tries to live with everyone, going through everyday smiling, he knew deep inside his sister was not ok. Shay had sensed something like that in her new friend but she did not know what to say or do. She loved Gabby and cared for her a lot. She just wished Gabby would trust her enough with her feelings and talk to her. She wanted to be there for her and let her know that she got her back always. Antonio only advised Shay to stay put. One thing he learned from his sister is to never push her to do anything she's not comfortable with or not ready for, or that would be the end of it. He told her to accept and take what she gives her, the time will come. _'She does not trust easily and it's not your fault'._ Antonio assured Leslie. _'She just came back to Chicago with a Great Wall of China built all around her. Eventually, she will feel the loneliness in there and will start allowing guests one by one. I'm sure you're at the top of that list Shay.'_ Antonio had said.

"Who was her best friend?" Shay asked Antonio.

"Marco Donnelly," Antonio answered and Shay only nodded. Taking everything in. She managed to convince herself to give Gabby some time though she feels like the girl has gone even deeper now. She only hoped she would be able to help dig her out when the time came.

The day came when Gabby had to tell someone about Lexi. People at the firehouse were starting to get suspicious over her. It had been only two shifts after Lexi came to Chicago and Gabby hadn't told anyone about her. No one had even visited her at her house but Matt on her very first night in Chicago. She gave excuses every now and then, she disappeared to where? Nobody knew. She was constantly taking secret phone calls, and she had to lie sometimes in order to not get made. Shay had cornered her one day worried that there was something going on or that her friend was in trouble and needed her help. She started to ask questions and sometimes Gabby would fumble on her stories.

"Gabby, if you are caught up in something and you really need help, I'm here. The guys at the firehouse are here too." Shay had offered. "I promise you, we are like family and we stick out for each other." She went on and on and Gabby was speechless, they were in the ambo from Lakeshore when Gabby decided to go for a pit stop. "Dawson, what are we doing here?"

"You'll see," Gabby replied getting out of the car and asking Shay to follow her, "Why are we at a…"

"Quit with the questions Shay, I said you'll see." They waited at the gate when they heard the bell ringing and kids running out. Gabby looked out and saw her daughter by the school door with her best friend talking.

"Hey Lexi," the little girl turned surprised to see her mom there, she ran to give her a big hug.

"Hi mama, I thought Uncle Tio was getting me today?" The cute little girl said excited to see her mom.

"I know bug, I just wanted to introduce you to someone." She stood from her daughter's embrace and walked to Shay who just stood there startled. "Lexi, meet my partner Leslie Shay."

"It's nice to meet you Miss Shay, I'm Lexi."

"Shay, meet my 5 year old daughter Alexis Marie Dawson." Gabby said proudly.

"Moom, I'm 5 and half" Lexi protested and her mom only smiled at her.

"I know mia mor, but I don't want you to grow up so fast," she said leaning to kiss her.

"Wow! It's a pleasure to meet you Lexi." Shay finally said, still astonished at what was happening. She had thought her friend was involved in something like drugs or was seeing someone, an ex con or something and didn't want anyone to find out. Instead It turns out she has a five year old daughter she had managed to hide from her, let alone the entire house for about a month since she started working at 51. Shay was surprised at how her friend managed to keep her daughter a secret for that long. She didn't know whether to get angry or be happy to learn about a huge secret her friend has been keeping. Before Shay knew it Lexi had jumped to hug her since she knelt to greet the little girl who had big brown eyes and curly hair like her mother. She had a black bow tied to her hair and a purple and black bag pack that seemed to be so big it hung below her butt.

"C'mon, let me take you to Tio's house. We gotta go back, we're still on shift."

"Aaah, mommy, can I come to the firehouse today?" Lexi said pouting trying to get her mom to bring her to work with her.

"I'm afraid not sweetheart. Mommy is busy," Before they could even drive out they were called by main to a call nearby.

"Truck 81 and squad 3 are on route to the call," Shay announced trying to see Gabby's reaction through the rear view mirror.

"I know," Gabby replied quietly as she sat at the back of the ambo with Lexi.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," Shay had said.

"What secret mommy? Can I also keep the secret?" Lexi wanted to join in on the conversation.

"The secret is for adults only mia mor." Gabby said as the ambo pulled over and they got off. There were people screaming from a building that seemed to have the upper floor collapsing slowly. So many people were gathered around the street watching the whole scene.

"Hi mam, this is my house, I went to the kitchen to get drinks for my book club and all of a sudden I heard a big thump," a lady who seemed to be in her mid 30's said as she ran towards the paramedics who were first on scene. "My friends are upstairs."

"How many people are in there mam?" Gabby asked,

"There is seven of us, and my dog snoopy," she said crying.

"Alright mam, the firefighters are on their way and they will get your friends. I'm Gabriela, this is my partner Shay, and we…"

"And I'm Lexi," Gabby turned so quick to see her daughter standing right behind her, she knelt to speak to her,

"Hey," her eyes widened as she whispered in her tense voice which showed she was serious, "I need you to go back in the ambo do you understand me?" Lexi knew that her mom meant what she said so she nodded and ran back to the ambo and sat there watching the action.

"I'm sorry about that mam,"

"It's Kerry," the lady responded,

"Are you hurt anywhere mam…Kerry?" Gabby asked walking the woman to the ambo,

"No, uhmm… I got out in time when everything collapsed,"

"Good, Please take a seat here. Ambo 61 to main," Gabby spoke over her radio.

"Main to 61, come in,"

"We're going to need more rigs, multiple victims trapped in an unstable building that has just collapsed," Gabby announced as truck and squad arrived.

"Dawson, Shay, what do we got?" Chief asked when they finally arrived and he walked towards the two women.

"Miss Kerry here and her friends have a book club in her house, she was downstairs when she heard the building crack and ran out only to witness her house collapsing." Gabby reported. "There are six women and a dog trapped inside as you can hear some of the screams," she continued.

"Alright, Casey, Severide, let's get to it," Boden called out to his lieutenants who started to scramble ordering their men to hustle. The rescue went on for about four hours as the rescue squad had to take their time since the building was very unstable.

"Oh My God Louisa!" Kerry shouted as Otis came out towards ambo 61 carrying a woman who seemed to have difficulty breathing.

"Alright, get her on the gurney, we gotta bag her," Gabby called out to Shay,

"Let's take her to the hospital now or else we'll lose her," Shay said jumping on the front seat to drive.

"And who's this cutie?" Otis asked pointing at Lexi who did not get a chance to introduce herself when her mother jumped at the back of the ambo and closed it shut ordering Shay to drive off. They managed to get Louisa to the hospital alive and did the report before driving back.

"Heeeyy, I thought you changed your mind and decided to take her to the firehouse with you after all," Antonio said opening the door to let Lexi go in the house.

"Naah, I don't think it's safe for her to be around me during calls, I barely managed to keep her in one position today at this crazy call we had," Gabby said giving her brother a kiss on the cheek, "Bye sweetie, I'll pick you up from school tomorrow ok!" She said to her daughter as she walked back to the ambo where Shay was waiting. Lexi was disappointed that she did not get a chance to meet the firefighters or even go to the firehouse to see where her mom worked. She went to bed crying that night. She loved meeting her mom's partner Shay. She had thought she was sweet and pretty. But she wanted to visit the firehouse.

"So who was that little girl on the ambo back at the call earlier today?" Otis asked Shay who was lying on her bunk bed.

"I don't know Otis, who do you think it was?"

"I don't know." Otis replied,

"Well, is there a reason why you wanna know who the mystery little girl was?" Shay said, now with her head turned to look at Otis who was standing by her bed with his hands crossed as if trying to figure something out. "I mean, am I under some interrogation that you are going to ask me of every patient I pick up on my ambo?"

"No, no, I just… I mean… she just had a familiar face that's all." Otis replied and Shay only raised her eyebrows to show her annoyance.

"Hi Brian,"

"Hi Dawson," Otis said as he walked out of the quarters.

"So," Gabby said as she sat on Shay's bed.

"So?" Shay asked, "You met the love of my life, Lexi,"

"How could you keep such a big part of your life from me for this long Dawson?" Shay sat up, "I mean, I understand the whole wall you've built up so that no one could see through into your life but this…"

"I'm sorry Shay, I just wasn't ready,"

"For what Dawson?" there was silence for a while, "She seems like a really nice kid," Shay said quietly.

"She's a sweetheart," Gabby said nodding and smiling at her friend, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner Shay… I just… I wanted to make sure that Lexi and I could call this place home and I didn't want her to connect to anything or anyone until I made sure of that." Gabby confessed genuinely, "She can't go through having a new life and getting it ripped from her again, it's easier when you don't connect as much you know!" her voice was trailing off, and tears started to form in her eyes.

"I know. She must be a really strong girl and you know where she gets it from." Shay said moving closer to hug her friend. They stayed there for a while before hearing a man's voice,

"Can I join in?" Matt joked as the two women pulled apart to look at him standing by his door,

"No Casey, you wouldn't be able to handle it." Shay joked and Gabby gave out a small giggle looking at her friend.

"Can I come to your house today?" Shay asked Dawson as they walked out the firehouse the next morning.

"Huh?"

"I mean, I met Lexi and now I would like to know her." Gabby smiled.

"Ok, I'm picking her up from school at one thirty, right now, I'm going home to rest."

"I'm coming to rest with you. Kelly is going out of town with his buddies so the house is going to be empty and boring." Gabby smiled as they both jumped into her car and drove off.

"Have a good weekend at the lake," Matt called out to Severide,

"You bet, the offer is still open you know." Severide said throwing his duffle bag in the car.

"Naah, I have a dinner date with Violet and Christie tonight,"

"Well, for a second I thought you were going to say with Dawson" Severide said chuckling, "I can't pull you away from your family." He said knowingly teasing Matt before skidding off.

Dawson was determined to rest as soon as she got home before she could go pick up Lexi from school. Her plan did not surpass with the presence of the very inquisitive and excited Shay. Shay had invited herself to Gabby's house so as to rest with her, but she could not even close her eyes.

"What Dawson? You can't blame me for not being able to nap right now after that bomb you dropped on me, I mean, even Antonio did not let it slip that you have a daughter!" Shay was pacing in Gabby's room.

"Ok. You can go to the living room and get a brown leather photo album on the top shelf." Gabby said as she sat on her bed after fidgeting the past hour trying to get some sleep with no help from Shay. "There are about over two hundred photos of my family in there that can keep you busy." She said before covering herself with some blankets and turning to look away from Shay, "And please if you have any questions, you can ask me later. Or write them down so you don't forget." Shay was already out the door to get the album. She was very excited to learn more about Gabby. She felt like they were now getting closer and she loved it.

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 **Summary: Lexi comes home and spends time with her mom. Shay gets to meet Lexi and learns so much more about Gabby.**

 **Next Chapter: Matt asks Gabby out. Will she say yes? What will happen next?**

 **Can someone tell me in the reviews whether Matt's sister is Chrissie or Christie. I'm confused. She's appearing in the next chapter and i wanna post it tomorrow. Thanks.**

 **Thank you guys once again for reading. Don't forget to motivate me by reviewing. Let me know what you think.**

 **Love always,  
Gaone.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Yayyy! Reviews. Thank you all for the feedback and curiosity. I guess your questions will be answered in the coming chapters. Be patient my lovies.**

 **This is one of my fave chapters I've written. I think it's cute and sweet. It's probably the shortest of them all. I hope you like it.**

 **I do not own anything but all the Dawsey feels (since they don't exist on the show) ;) haha. I will not lose hope though. :D**

 **Enjoy.**

 **Chapter 4.**

"Hey Shay," Matt called Shay and pointed for her to follow him out the conference room where everyone was seated having lunch. "Can I ask you a really important question?" Matt asked when they were alone in the hallway, "and don't laugh, please," He added.

"Sure Casey, wassup?" Shay smiled as she folded her arms trying not to laugh already. She had a feeling this was going to be good and she was ready to make fun of Matt.

"Do you think Dawson will be ok if I asked her to join me for my Grandmother's birthday? Not as a date or anything, just as a friend, you know. Just so that my sister and cousins don't make fun of me that I'm alone and they called it." He blurted out before he decided to pull back. He had been contemplating asking Gabby directly. As much as she was nice and they were getting along well, he was a little afraid of her. She had this side to her he did not understand but was intrigued to find out. He wanted to know her and have deep conversations with her. He had decided to get Shay's opinion first since she's the only person at the house who spends the most time with Gabby. Shay only smiled. She adored Gabby and would like to see her loosen up and have some fun. And if there was a guy in this world she could recommend her to open up to, it would be Matt Casey. Though she knew Gabby would never even give it a second thought, she still believed that someday Gabby will break down that wall to let her in, or Matt even. Shay noticed the way Matt would steal a sight of Gabby, he would pretend to be reading a newspaper only to get a glimpse of her. He even started to get to the firehouse pretty early just to be the second person there, after Gabby who is always early. As secretive and unreadable as Gabby is, she could not fool Shay. She also noticed how Gabby would pass by Matt's quarters just to take a peek at him. When Matt entered the room, Gabby's smile grew and they would make very long deep eye contact.

"Look Matt, you're a grown ass man, and you more than anyone should know if a girl feels you or not." Shay said, "Do you think Dawson feels something for you?" Shay knew Gabby might say no. Not because she didn't want to go out with Matt or anything, because she had a daughter and knowing Gabby, she's obviously protective over her little one that she could give up her happiness for her. Shay still wanted to help her friends find happiness amongst each other though. So she could secretly help Matt find his way into Gabby's life without betraying her friend's trust.

"I… maybe… I mean, I don't know Shay. She confuses me." Matt replied scratching his head.

"Well, have you tried talking to her?" Matt felt as if Shay was now enjoying herself patronizing him. Annoyed, he put his hands in his pockets walking back and forth in one spot.

"What are you guys whispering about?" Matt jumped at the sound of Gabby's voice. She was beautiful, standing there in just her EMT uniform, simple and sexy. Matt thought to himself.

"We're talking about you," Shay said. One could never tell if Shay was serious or joking, just like right at this moment when Gabby let out a laugh trying to hide her embarrassment.

"What? No.. we..we were not talking about you Dawson." Matt quickly added also feeling a little embarrassed.

"Whatever you say Casey," Shay exclaimed as she winked at Matt before walking back to the kitchen leaving Gabby standing there with Casey, in silence. Gabby didn't know why she was still standing there. She had actually come out here to call Shay to help her out with inventory, instead she was silently standing still right in front of Mathew Casey. Matt cleared his throat.

"So…" That's all Matt could say. Gabby pressed her lips together before turning around so quick and disappearing. Matt walked back to his quarters embarrassed. How could he have made himself look so stupid in front of Gabby? He was kicking himself for that awkward moment that felt like it lasted forever. He froze out there, totally blanked out. If someone had asked him what his name was, he's pretty sure he would have not had a clue. He knew he had to deal with this. He had to talk to Gabby and see how things will go between them. First, he needs to invite her to his gram's party. He finally decided to take a leap and ask her that night during shift. Plus the party was that weekend so he had to give her enough time if she was going to think about it.

"Hey uhm, can I ask you something?" Matt nervously said to Gabby who was folding her clothes from the laundry.

"Yea sure. Sup?" Gabby was wondering why Matt was looking all nervous as he rubbed his hands together. She turned to face him while still folding.

"Yea, aah! So my gram gram turned 80 this Tuesday," he paused when Gabby gave out a little 'Aaw' without a clue of where Matt was getting at. "So I was wondering if you could accompany me to her birthday that will be at my aunt's place this Saturday?" He stopped talking and had his invisible fingers crossed in his head as he clenched his teeth together.

Gabby stopped folding and scratched her hair thinking, "Aahh"

"C'mon Dawson. I mean you're only coming as a friend really. I just need someone to go with so that my sister and annoying relatives don't think I'm lonely and I'm going to die alone. They know about me and Hallie and… I promise you won't regret it." Matt was determined to get out of there with a yes from this girl. After taking a deep breath Gabby finally responded. She did feel like she needed to go out just for a night at-least. Then she remembered Shay offering to baby-sit Lexi any day she needed to spend time with some friends or go out which Gabby had found to be weird since she was the only friend she would go out with. That's when she realized Matt had probably spoken to Shay first about this, which she found to be cute so she said yes.

###############

"Soo... Iraq?" Matt said without looking at Gabby as they sat by the balcony avoiding the crowd that had gathered to celebrate Gram gram Penny. They all called her Gram gram. He was one person who Matt remembered came to their rescue when his father had died and mother taken away. She practically raised him, Christie together with two of his other cousins. Matt had asked Gabby to come not for her to meet his family or anything, he had wanted to show her off since everyone knew he and Hallie were over, they made bets that he was going to be alone forever. Bringing Gabby there was a good idea, smart move. None of his cousins said a word as they were shocked seeing Matt with someone who was not Hallie. Someone who looked radiantly flawless in her black and red lace dress that hugged her features perfectly. She moved with grace holding her wine glass.

Gabby could only thank her parents for that who used to bring her to the fireman's ball. Her mother would protest at her every move if she did not behave like a 'girl', _'sit up straight Gabriela, hold your wine glass like this Gabriela, move around the room with grace Gabriela'_ she would say all night. Gabby had always been a tomboy. She loved hanging out with the guys, getting dirty, and even broke a lot of bones playing rough when she was little. She never really liked the cute dresses, and the make-overs, and especially all the standing around looking pretty. But when she dressed up, _she just lights up the room_ , Matt had thought as he stole some looks at her the entire night, he could not keep his eyes off of her. He wondered how she was even still single. He wanted to ask her. To know more. Clearing his throat waiting for Gabby's response to his question slash statement, Gabby was also lost in thought wondering how she was going to answer that.

"Uhmm.. yeah.." she swallowed, "Iraq…" she said nodding her head and pressing her lips together not knowing what to say. Matt did not help as he turned to face her encouraging her to go on. She took a deep breath and decided to just say something, anything. "Well, a friend of mine was enlisted and I was at a time in my life where I needed some change, so I signed up to volunteer as an emergency relief to assist the doctors there." She paused, Matt still looking at her wanting her to continue. "I paused my residency at Chicago Med and went to Iraq to serve my country. Came back inspired to work as a first respondent so I decided to be a paramedic. My father was a firefighter, I'm sure you know this by now, and I've always wanted to be one as well. So working at the firehouse," She paused again, she realized that she was now going too deep which is not the direction she's planning on going. "uhhmm, it just keeps me closer to him you know." She took a gulp of her drink cursing herself for opening up that much to Matt. She does not want him to think that they can just talk about anything, there needs to be boundaries. Changing the topic so fast before Matt could ask more, "So, how did your father die?" she immediately regretted asking him that. He had been smiling at her all night and now his face had changed so quickly. He swallowed.

"You need a refill?" he was trying to avoid talking about that tragic time of his life. He stood to go get them drinks.

"I'm sorry." Gabby quickly said as Matt was leaving, she swallowed. "I… I just… I'm sorry." She was stumbling on her words not knowing what to say her words were barely a whisper. "I can leave if you want me to. I mean, I can call a cab. I don't wanna ruin your day celebrating your gram gram."

Matt had turned to face Gabby, "Oh no no Dawson. Trust me, the only thing that's keeping me from leaving this place is you. And gram." He said after placing their glasses down and held Gabby by her arms which made her quiver.

"I'm enjoying spending time with you and at this moment all I wanna do is take a long walk by the lake and just talk endlessly with you." Gabby swallowed, not knowing how to respond, she freed herself off Matt's hands and stood there smiling. They stared at each other to what seemed like eternity before Matt's cousin Lauren poked her head out calling for Matt to help her with something. Matt did not want to leave that moment, he felt like him and Gabby were finally connecting and opening up to one another. He wanted to get out of there with her and just uncover the layers of Gabriela Dawson.

"I'll be right back," he said to Gabby as he bit his lower lip. Before ducking into the house, he peeped his head out, "hey," Gabby turned to look at him, "You look absolutely beautiful tonight." He said smiling before running after his cousin. She was left there smiling at herself and walked to stand by the railing to take in the beautiful city. Shay and Lexi had picked out the dress for her and she had objected wanting to wear something casual. She was happy they had convinced her otherwise.

Matt looked at Gabby from afar, taking her in. She was standing out by the balcony close to the glass doors looking out at the much lit city.

"Like what you see?" Matt's sister Christie asked standing behind him.

"What?" Matt quickly responded turning to see his sister looking out where Gabby was standing.

"She's my girlfriend, so yeah." Matt said after clearing his throat, he did not believe that he just said that.

"What happened to Hallie? You two were together for so long I didn't think you could ever part." Matt heard that his sister was kind of mocking him, trying to press his buttons. As if he never gets anything right.

"Well, that chapter of my life is over…" before he could say more, Christie interrupted him.

"So that's your rebound? Impressive lil bro." She smirked, Matt was very annoyed with her. He didn't mind his sister making fun of him, or embarrassing him, but he minded when she did that to his friends.

"Why are you always doing this? I know you don't like that I'm close with mum and that I visit her all the time, but you gotta know that at-least I'm holding on to the one parent we have left. Why don't you…"

"Hi guys," Matt heard Gabby's voice interrupt him and he turned so quick to face her. Hoping she did not hear anything he just screamed to his sister, he smiled at her. "Where is the bathroom?" Gabby asked and before Matt could say anything, Christie jumped in front of him taking Gabby by her arm.

'I'll show you," She said leaving her wine glass with Matt and winking at him as she walked Gabby down the hall to where the bathroom is. "So," Christie said looking herself in the mirror when Gabby was in the toilet, "You and my brother huh?" Gabby froze. What does she mean by 'me and her brother'? "I mean he seems to be very excited showing off his new girlfriend to everyone." _Girlfriend?_ Gabby thought confused as to what Matt was telling his family. "Don't you think it's too soon though? I mean he just got off a relationship he was in for eight years." Christie said emphasizing on the years Matt was in a relationship with his ex-fiance.

"Hey you," Gabby heard Christie greet someone who just walked in the bathroom.

"Hi Christie, long time." Gabby froze, she did not want to bring any attention to herself. She recognized the other lady's voice. It was Hallie. Could this night get any worse? Gabby thought. Did Matt come to the party with that girl who's a new paramedic at his house?" Hallie spat, making sure she said paramedic as if it wasn't a worthy job. "I mean, was she waiting for Matt to be single so that she could jump at him the first chance she got?" Gabby could only roll her eyes out of annoyance, her mouth slightly open shocked and annoyed at what she was hearing. She did not know Matt's ex but she sure does not like her at all.

Christie's face turned red trying to let her friend know that there was someone in the toilet so she could stop talking. Hallie did not take notice as she went on. "Couldn't she have waited a lil longer though? I mean, Matt and I broke up many times but we still found our way back to each other's arms." Gabby was starting to get frustrated, she wanted to flush and leave the bathroom, leave the party, but she couldn't. "I feel sorry for her cos Matt is using her as a rebound. He is still hurt and trying to heal. Remember, like that chick he met in Chinatown back when we went to New York and we broke up because I wanted to live there instead? Then he came to his senses and…" Hallie went on and on and Christie was lost for words. She and his brother were not in good terms at the moment but she still loved him. She loved her friend Hallie as well that is why she invited her to the party without any knowledge that Matt would bring a new girl there. She swallowed hard at Hallie's words not knowing how to stop her friend without Gabby noticing that she was on her side. There was a knock at the door.

"Gabby?" Matt called out. Gabby jumped and panicked, flushing the toilet, she walked out to wash her hands as quickly as she could and walked out leaving the two ladies in silence. Gabby walked past Matt bumping him on his shoulder running down the stairs. Confused, he opened the bathroom door angrily to ask his sister what she had said to her only to find Hallie standing there with her mouth wide open. "Hallie?" Matt said, "What are you doing here?"

"I invited her." Christie confidently said jumping to her friend's defence. She had to take a side and after what had happened in the bathroom, it seems as if she had betrayed her friend so she decided to defend her. Matt did not care, he only shook his head and left. Running to find Gabby, he started to ask everyone if they had seen her. One of his cousins told him he saw her running out the door and Matt grabbed both his coat and hers and left the house.

"Gabby?" he yelled out in the street trying to see which direction she took. He was not surprised when she didn't respond so he took his truck thinking that it would be faster to catch her if she was on foot. He saw her walking down the street with her arms wrapped around her, obviously cold. He got out the car grabbing her coat and caught up to her. "Hey," Gabby accepted to put on her coat but stayed silent when Matt spoke. "I'm sorry." Matt said, he didn't know what had happened in the bathroom but he's sure it wasn't pretty. He bit his lower lip, "Can I take you home? It's cold, and you can't get there on foot."

Gabby didn't care, she just did not want to be around him. She was so angry at him for using her like that. Angry at herself for even agreeing to come to this. She was only doing this for a friend and trusted that it would be fun to hang out with Matt and see his other side. She felt sorry for him after she had heard was his sister said to him. She did not get the full conversation, but she picked on the little pieces and put them together. Her mind was changed the moment Hallie started to pour out her feelings. She obviously still loves Matt and she did not want to get in the way of any of that. She did not want to find herself in the mix of a relationship that obviously has been through so much but still found its way to function.

"Gabby!" Matt grabbed her by her arms bringing her to a halt.

"What?" she said annoyed. Matt could see that she was annoyed. He could read that she had anger written all over her face as well. Swallowing hard, he knew he had to deal with this.

"Hallie and I are over. For good this time. I promise." Gabby didn't care. Whether Matt was single, engaged, married, she just wanted to go home and forget this night ever happened. The one thing that Gabby wanted to burry was the fact that she was hurt. Hurt by what was said in that bathroom. Hurt that Matt had invited her here without her knowledge that she was supposed to act as his 'Girlfriend'. She was more hurt that she actually convinced herself that it was ok to like Matt. That it was safe to do so. She felt sick to her stomach and asked Matt to drive her home. She liked him and she hated herself for that.

The drive to Gabby's place was quiet. Neither said a word nor made a sound. Gabby looked out the window the entire trip. Casey took a few glimpses of her wondering what was going through her mind. He wanted to find out so bad he could hardly contain himself. After her lil confession at the party, which seemed to have been an effect of alcohol, he wanted to know more. He wanted to go even deeper and learn all of her secrets. He wanted her to know that he wasn't going to judge her in any way. That she could count on him and trust him. He wanted to do all this without the mistake to push her away. When they finally arrived, Gabby was still staring out the window. "Dawson," Matt shook her and she snapped out of her thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"We're here." She stretched and pretended to yawn. She wasn't tired at all, but she felt the need to do that so that Matt could take the hint and leave. Matt got out the car to walk her to her doorstep. Gabby turned and thanked Matt for the night. They both smiled and stood there in silence for a few minutes before Matt decided that this was his only chance. He took a step forward which made Gabby take a step back bumping into her door. Her eyes were now wide open. Was he trying to kiss her? Gabby wondered. She finally turned and unlocked her door before walking inside. She turned to thank Matt again and smiled before closing the door behind her. She stood there a few moments trying to listen to Matt's footsteps. There were no footsteps. _Why was he not leaving_? She asked herself. A few more minutes passed and she opened the door finding Matt seated at a bench in the apartments' hallway. He stood up and apologised.

"Sorry.. I uh..I.." He couldn't think of an excuse as to why he was still there. They stood there in silence and Gabby heard little feet walking towards her.

"Mommy!" was all Matt heard before Gabby ducked in and closed the door behind her.

"Hey sweetie," Gabby said as she leaned down to kiss her daughter. "I need you to go to your room ok, I'll be right there alright." Lexi nodded and walked back. Gabby watched her until she was out of sight before opening the door to find Matt still standing there. Gabby only smiled at him which made him relax a bit. She was still mad at him. She couldn't hate him though. He was so sweet and it really was not his fault that his ex had said all those things.

"You looked absolutely beautiful tonight Dawson. I mean that, and thanks for coming with me." Matt genuinely stated.

"Yea. Sure. What are friends for?" Matt felt Gabby's words pierce through his heart like a sharpened blade was slicing through his body.

"I'm sorry about what happened…I mean…I…"

"It's fine Casey. I guess Hallie has not moved on as you claim to be." Gabby said. After taking a deep breath, he took 3 steps to stand right next to Gabby who was still by the door as if waiting for him to leave. Matt was standing so close, her breath escaped her and before she knew it he brought his lips to hers. The kiss started off smooth and slow but when Matt realized Gabby kissing him back, he deepened the kiss asking to be let in. Gabby did not protest. She was in awe and her body took over her mind. Feeling every move Matt was making, she let some groans escape her lips. Matt started to kiss her neck, his hands caressing Gabby's arms. She stood still, taking it all in.

"Marco" Gabby whispered

"Huh?" Matt replied to Gabby's mourn, he lifted his head from kissing her neck to face her. He smiled, "what was that?" he asked softly.

Gabby realized what she had said. Had she pictured being with Marco instead of Matt? She was thinking to herself wondering if she felt how she did maybe because Marco was in her mind the entire time. She did not want to believe that. She opened her eyes to see Matt staring at her, he leaned in for the soft warm kisses on her lips but Gabby quickly broke off the kiss and placed her hands on Matt's chest as if trying to keep him away. Shaking her head as if trying to gain consciousness, her eyes still closed, she swallowed.

"Goodnight Lieutenant." She finally said and gave Matt a slight smile before walking back in to her house.

They finally did it. They gave in to the long sexy glares they shared, to the wicked side smiles, and the sexual tension that was between them. Gabby was terrified. She couldn't believe what had happened. Did she have too much to drink? Her thoughts were getting the best of her as she stood by the door. She couldn't believe that she had reacted like that to Matt. The air suddenly becoming thin and Gabby breathing heavily as she moved to Matt's rhythms. She smiled to herself. The only problem was that, the whole time she had Marco in her thoughts, or was it Matt? She was confused hence her shaking and not knowing what to do. She couldn't tell Matt that, she thought. It would mess him up. The thought of kissing a girl only to find that she was thinking of another man? No! She won't tell him, Gabby finally concluded before walking up to kiss her daughter goodnight and scooting next to Shay in her bed.

 **Summary: Matt wants to get to know Gabby so he asks her to join him at his grandmother's bday party. Things are looking great until Hallie makes an appearance. Gabby leaves and Matt offers to take her home, he then takes his chance and kisses her. They share a sweet moment but Gabby is left confused and worried about what's to come.**

 **Next chapter: We witness Gabby's crusade which will put Matt, Shay, and Mills in a difficult position. Some tension rises between two people at the firehouse. A lil more Dawsey feels.**

 **Please Read and review. You can guess what the next chapter will entail and maybe that will motivate me to post sooner than planned.**

 **Thank you for your continued support. I really appreciate it.**

 **Love alw** ays,  
Gaone.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ahahahaha, Thank you for that correction Coconut. I'm not aware of the medical stuff. Sorry guys. Thank you all for the reviews, and Dawsey Forever you sure can review as many times as you want and you might just get rewarded. :) Two chapters a day maybe? Lets see what yall gotta say about this one and since it's Friday, I'm in the mood to share my smile. :)**

 **I just read what Mon said about Dawsey and how they are moving forward after the loss of their baby. Since Derek does not want to share those Dawsey moments with us, I might just add them in this story. Keep reading and your Dawsey feels might just be satisfied. ;)**

 **Again, I do not own Chicago Fire, any of the characters (i wish), just this story line, Lexi, and the Dawsey feels.**

 **Enjoy;**

 **Chapter 5**

"Sooo…" Shay said when Gabby was in the kitchen making breakfast the next morning.

"Sooo... What?" Gabby acted like she didn't know what Leslie was trying to get out of her. Matt did not tell anyone about his night with Gabby. He knew she was very private and secretive and thought she might not like it if he told anyone. He did not even tell Severide who would have told Shay.

"C'mon Dawson, its mee." Shay said pouting, "You know you can tell me anything." She was practically begging Gabby to spill everything to her as she followed her down to Lexi's room who was still sleeping. The two had shift that day but since it was a Sunday, Gabby had to drop off Lexi at her brother's place. She did not give away any details of the night she spent with Matt. Well, the night that was cut short.

"Why did you come home so early last night?" Shay knew that Gabby wasn't going to give up anything so easily so she had to peck on her all day if she had to to get something. "I mean, I would have thought you would go take a walk along the beach, talk all night then realize you're so in love and end up at Matt's place." Gabby found that to be hilarious but she stopped herself from laughing as she picked her daughter up from bed trying not to wake her. She carried her to the car and Shay brought all their stuff and they drove off to Antonio's before they reported for shift.

She was mad at herself to what she was going to do. It wasn't the right time. Everything was happening just so fast and she and Matt were starting to be really good friends she wouldn't want to lose that. She just got back and started working there. How could she start seeing someone so soon? It has been five years since she was with Marco, and there had been one guy whom she was with a couple of times in Florida, nothing serious. Gabby was pulled in many directions especially when it came to her personal life. She could handle stuff, hell she could handle anything, but her feelings, and caring for someone, and all the things that came with being in a relationship, she got lost. She never knew what to do, where to start, or what to say. When she and Marco hung out, she had always thought of telling him that she had feelings for him, but something always came up and she would back down. Unfortunately, she never did get the chance to do so. All she could hope for was that he knew and he had felt the same way. But here she was, with a man she barely knew. What if she tells him the truth? Matt would feel betrayed and leave. Gabby felt her insides tighten. She won't let a man she just met control so much of her thoughts and feelings. She won't let him consume her happiness, or let him close enough to see through the bullet holes she had bandaged. Because that would only strip her naked and her vulnerability will be revealed. So she decided to go with the decision she made before taking a long hot shower and coming to the firehouse – _tell Matt that that was a one-time thing_.

"You going in?" Shay asked.

Gabby took a deep breath and walked in the lounge to get some coffee. She tried so hard to avoid eye contact with Matt but he was staring at her all the way waiting for her to look his side. Her body deceived her as her head ducked to take a peep at Matt who smiled. She faked a smile, feeling like she was about to trip on her own feet and walked faster to the kitchen.

"What did you do?" Shay asked Matt.

"What d'you mean?" Matt said as he took a spoonful of his cereal and chewed not looking at Shay.

"With Dawson. What. Did. You. Do?" Matt placed his spoon down and swallowed, he looked at Shay confused and looked at where Gabby was standing waiting for the coffee to finish. He looked back at Shay squinting his eyes showing that he had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. To his concern, he and Gabby had a fantastic night last night, though it started off bad with the Hallie stuff and all, but seemed to have not been enough to keep their hands off of each other. He felt the connection with Gabby. He knew she felt it too because she showed him. He decided to check for himself, if something was wrong he would like to know and help fix it.

"Hey," Gabby jumped spilling her coffee a little at the sound of Matt right behind her ear.

"Hiiii.." She said smiling and giggling as she motioned towards the fridge trying to move away from Matt. Matt only walked behind her in slow steps. She turned hoping that Matt got the hint and walked away only to bump straight into him and he quickly grabbed her by her arms before she could fall. He straightened her up to face him.

"Are you okay?" He asked, still smiling struggling to get her to look up. Gabby swallowed.

"Yea. Of. Of course. I'm okay…" she let out a giggling sigh, "Why would you think I'm not? I'm…I'm fine. Totally." She added.

Matt was still holding her arms feeling her wiggle trying to escape his hold, he moved a step closer. As if they were not close enough before, _what's he doing_? Gabby thought. He brought his right hand to hold her chin and lift her head slowly to face him.

"Hey," he said again. Gabby only swallowed, her lips slightly parted, she was lost for words. What is this strong feeling that Matt has on her? She thought, how could he make her feel like that? She was smart, and decisive, and independent, but how could this one man just come in and take over her mind, body, and soul, with just his smile, look, and touch? "Would you like to talk about this later?" Matt asked Gabby who seemed to be lost in her thoughts.

"Uh…I.." Before Gabby could say anything, the bells went off calling the entire house to a burning warehouse that had so many people trapped.

"So you two were getting a lil cosy there in the kitchen!" Shay said trying to get information out of Gabby who seemed to be distracted by something. Shay had noticed that her friend would just drift away to her own world somewhere far whilst still in conversation. She wanted to ask about it, but she wanted it to be in Gabby's terms. Biting her bottom lip and looking out the window, Gabby could only think about Matt. _Talk? What could he possibly want to talk about?_ She was asking herself questions she had no answers to which was stressing her. She did not need this right now. She thought. _Okay Gabriela, get your head in the game._ She shook her head before turning to look at Shay who was concentrating on driving.

"I can't breathe," a lil girl said sobbing and clearly having difficulty breathing.

"Ok. Calm down sweetheart." Gabby responded patting the little girl who was stuck under a motorbike in their house garage only her head was peeping out. "My name is Gabriela, you are?"

"Angela," the girl responded crying.

"Ok Angela, I need you to work with me here ok. You're going to be fine Angela." She assured her, her voice was sweet and calm as she caressed the little girl's hair. She was good with kids and everyone in her family knew that. Shay could also see it. She realized then how Gabby managed to be a single mom for five years without a flinch. "You see these firefighters running around? They're here to help you and they won't let you down ok. I will make sure of that ok bug." She said looking directly in Angela's eyes to make sure she heard her.

"Mills, Hermann, I need you to tie this motorbike to a chain connected to the truck and lift it from this girl." Matt gave his truck orders and they responded as fast as they could. Gabby, with Shay's assistance gave Angela a shot of medication to not feel the pain. When the men started to pull the bike, Angela started to scream.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Gabby shouted and the truck stopped moving. "We move this bike, she will go into cardiac arrest."

"We need to call a doctor to come on site." Shay told the Chief who immediately contacted Chicago med. "They'll be here in less than 15 minutes." She reported when she got back.

"She doesn't have 15 minutes Chief." Gabby snapped, she gave her word to Angela and she wasn't going to let her down. Looking at everyone standing beside her with nothing to do, only waiting, hoping, and praying for Angela to hold on for just a few minutes for doctors to arrive, Gabby couldn't wait no more.

"I..I..can't.." Angela squeezed Gabby's hand sobbing. Gabby saw the look on her face, Angela was giving up.

"That's it!" Gabby said loudly, grabbing her medical bag she started to scramble through it looking for items she could use to improvise. "Shay, grab me a big tray, go to their kitchen and find me a tray, preferably metal. Bring a pack of ice as well." Gabby said to Shay who ran into the house, "Mills, come help me down here, hold her head like this and her chest right here," she ordered Mills pointing to every place she instructed to be dealt with.

"Dawson, what are you doing?" Chief Boden asked angrily but Gabby did not respond, "Dawson I order you to stand down. Now." Chief yelled at Gabby so loud everyone was afraid to move or make a sound. Gabby blocked out everything that was happening around her. She gave Angela a hundred percent of her attention and no one could stop her. The Chief tried by all means to order her but the only thing that was going to stop her was if all these men chained her up, and she wasn't going to go down that easily.

She ran to the ambo to get the UV so that Mills could connect everything. Shay came back with three trays not knowing what Dawson had in mind, so she brought options. She also brought a bunch of frozen vegetables since she couldn't find ice. Gabby found a rope in the garage and then asked the truck guys to be ready to lift the bike. Matt nodded, Chief ordered everyone to stand down which they did. So Gabby was on her own. Matt felt sick to his stomach that he didn't know whether to help Gabby or follow the Chief's orders.

"What if she kills the girl? Huh?" The Chief rawed. Everyone stood still. Gabby turned to look at them and they all stared at her shocked at her actions. Shaking her head, she used the manpower she had to rescue this girl. On three, I need you to slip this tray in between Angela's chest and the bike ok." Gabby instructed Shay. "Mills, go round and try lift the Bike as slowly as you can," Before Mills stood, Matt was already holding the chains. He made his decision, if this was going to be a written warning for his actions on this call, then let it be. But he trusts Gabby and he wanted to show her that. Gabby only looked at him for a second and nodded.

"Ok, one. Two. Three. Lift," Gabby shouted, slipping the tray underneath the bike, "Ok put it down slowly," Matt did as told and took a deep breath, hoping things were going as Gabby was planning. Gabby also took a deep breath, the difficult part was only coming. "She's going to be in too much pain and her blood is going to shoot up high she might go into cardiac arrest," She was addressing her team, everyone else stood there watching the actions taking place right in front of them. Gabby was not authorized to do anything she was doing at this moment, she didn't care because saving this girl's life was the only thing that mattered to her. Her team decided that if Gabby was going down, then they were too. She got the rope and tied the tray around Angela's body so tight to keep the blood flowing at the rate it has been since the accident. She got the vegetable packs and placed them around Angela's body and on the metal tray to cool her blood. After a minute, she decided it was time. They heard medical bells sounding from afar which could mean the doctor was close.

"Alright everyone, stop this now. They are here." The Chief ordered once more time only hitting outside walls as Gabby did not stop for even half a second to listen to the Chief. "Alright, lift on three," she said looking at Matt who got ready by holding the chain tied around the bike. "Matthew Casey! Gabriela Marie Dawson! I command you to stop right now." Boden yelled, angrily gritting his teeth he looked like he could uproot a baobab tree. Shay had learned that Gabby was intense on calls but never like this. She heard her brother say that Gabby was not one to follow orders and this only proved him right.

"One. Two. Three, lift," she screamed.

"She's crashing," Shay announced, that did not shake Gabby. The bike seemed to be heavy on Matt as he was struggling to pull it to the other side, Gabby quickly got up to give him a hand.

"Bag her," they both pulled, and pulled, until the bike fell on their side falling with it. She got up fast as Shay was trying so hard to keep the girl breathing. The doctor, a nurse and one paramedic came running towards them.

"What the hell are you doing?" The nurse exclaimed, shocked at what was happening. Gabby did not move, she was giving the girl CPR, after removing the tray she continued trying to rescue Angela.

"Alright, charging to 60, Clear," the machine sounded and nothing happened.

"Stop. Move away from the girl young lady." The doctor now spoke,

"Charging to 100, Clear," The machine sounded again and nothing happened, the doctor tried to get Gabby away from the girl but Matt stopped him.

"Casey, what are you doing?" Boden said in between his teeth.

"She's back, she's back!" Gabby announced, "Bring me the gurney, she needs to go to the hospital now," Gabby screamed, when she looked up, she saw a crowd staring at her. The people in the street stood there clapping their hands and so did some of the truck guys. Except for Boden, whose veins could be seen right through his skin.

"You are one lucky paramedic. I advise you never do that again." The doctor said to Gabby angrily as if threatening her. Gabby had her eyes on Angela who still had her eyes closed. She was put in the ambo that just arrived from Chicago med with the doctor to be taken to the hospital. Gabby was breathing so hard. She still knelt at the same spot that Angela had been.

"Ok, wrap it up everyone." The Chief yelled.

"Hey," Shay said patting Gabby's back, "You did great. We gotta go." Gabby swallowed hard, not believing what had just happened. It was like she was not in this world. She had experienced this when in Iraq. A helicopter had crushed near their base and one of the soldiers was trapped under the big metal flap. They had to improvise with the little they had. She then realized where she got all the adrenaline to even go against the Chief's orders. She was shaking.

Back at the firehouse, Chief called in Gabby to his office. Everyone peeked through the blinds to hear the conversation. Only, it was not a conversation. Chief was basically screaming at Gabby.

"I'm very disappointed in you Gabriela." Matt heard him shout, "I promised your father that I would look out for you, but how can I do that if you do not want to follow the simplest instructions?" The whole house could hear chief yell, they all shivered wondering how Gabby was handling it. "I asked you a question Dawson!" He shouted at the top of his voice. Gabby was standing there in her soldier position, up-straight, still, with her hands to the sides, and looking directly ahead. Chief Boden shook his head and took a seat. "Contact your Union rep, that behaviour is not going to go unnoticed." Chief added, now in a lower voice. Gabby only blinked. Boden loved Gabby, he treated her as his own kid. He witnessed her grow up and he was there for her and her brother after they lost their parents.

"Please call in Mills, Shay, and Casey," Boden asked Connie over the phone.

"Chief," Matt announced as he entered the Chief's office followed by Shay and Mills. After closing the door and standing in a line alongside Gabby like they were pre-school kids, the Chief got up from his seat.

"Are you all out of your minds?" The Chief shouted, "Huh?" "Are you?"

"No Chief," Matt answered.

"That girl could have died. And you know who was going to be responsible for that? All four of you."

"But she didn't die Chief, Dawson…"

"Did I ask for you to speak," Chief cut off Shay who was trying to raise her opinion. "I need you all to contact your union reps, you know what to do."

"Yes Chief, thank you Chief." Matt responded for all of them.

"Close the door behind you." Chief said walking back to his seat. When the door shut, he shook his head. "You left me with a hot head like you Alex. She is indeed your daughter," The chief said looking up as if talking to his friend, Gabby's father.

"We heard what happened guys. What were you thinking?" Severide asked as the crew went in the lounge area to take their seats, except for Gabby who walked to the locker rooms.

"Gabby came up with a brilliant idea to save a little girl's life, we helped her out because she couldn't do it alone." Shay responded.

"If it wasn't for her, that girl would have died on the spot while waiting for a stupid doctor for so long." Matt added.

"Did yall seem to notice how Dawson reacted when Boden ordered her to stop?" Otis asked, "I mean, I heard that the chief worked with her father on 81, but do you think she's too close to the Chief to take his orders? She probably doesn't see him as a leader!" Cruz shrugged and looked away.

"Only a coward would make such insinuations," everyone looked to the door where Gabby was standing leaning against the door frame. "Have you ever felt like breaking the rules, do anything you possibly could to save a life Otis?" Gabby did not give him a chance to respond, walking towards Otis who was standing in the middle of the room, she continued, "I bet you're one of those guys who would walk away from a fire even if you heard a voice of someone burning from the other side begging you to save them only because the Chief called for yall to fall back." Gabby came to a stop when she finally reached Otis, her voice as low as she could get it to be, speaking so softly and provocatively Matt could not handle it. Everyone raised their eyebrows to what Gabby had just said which angered Otis.

"What did you just say to me?" Otis said in his loud deep voice, moving closer to Gabby as if asking for her to punch him first.

"You heard me," she provoked him even more by winking, Otis only grinded his teeth together and turned to walk away, but he couldn't. He felt embarrassed. Embarrassed by a new girl who thought she knew everything and could stomp on everyone how she liked just because her father was friends with Boden. He felt she needed to be put in her place just like what candidates go through when they are new. He turned to see Gabby walking to the kitchen side and everyone dispersing to do their own things.

"It's not my fault you don't know where you belong that you just have to come back to daddy's sacred place and force yourself into people's lives to accept you." Otis screamed before realizing that everyone was quiet. He regretted his words immediately, Gabby had stopped on her tracks to the kitchen and did not even turn to look at Otis. Matt had his eyes wide open at him as if trying to see what he was thinking. Cruz covered his mouth staring at his best friend. If he felt like Gabby had embarrassed him earlier, he was surely more embarrassed now. Gabby continued with what she had intended to do, make a sandwich and go eat it at her bunk. Shay followed her there.

"Hey, are you ok?"

"Yeah, thanks, I'm ok. Thank you for helping me out there. I couldn't have done it without you guys and Angela would have died."

"Yea Dawson, of course. I would do it again if I have to. You're my partner and if you go down, I'm coming with you." Shay said taking a seat next to Gabby and giving her a hug. "I've got your back ok."

"Thanks,"

"Do you think I should go apologize to Otis? I feel bad for what I said to him."

"I don't know." Shay replied, "but what I know is…"

"You don't have to, he has to apologize to you." Matt said walking in at the sleeping area. He stood by the two ladies smiling. He stared at Gabby and patted her shoulder. "Good job out there Dawson," that's all he could say, suddenly turned on by what he had noticed happen back at the call. He looked at Gabby the whole time she was working and thought she was exceptional, and stubborn of course.

"You don't have to undress her with your eyes right in front of me!" Shay spoke in between her teeth and Gabby jokingly pushed her to fall on the bed. Matt smiled and walked to his quarters. He looked back to see Gabby still looking at him and she ducked to face Shay.

################################

 **Summary: After the kiss, Shay interrogates Gabby who doesn't kiss and tell. Matt and Gabby have a sweet scene in the firehouse kitchen which Shay captures. Gabby goes rogue helping a little girl to save her life. Boden is not happy that Gabby was not following his orders which she managed to rally up a team of her friends to join her. The truck guys see this but Otis becomes one to say it which made him and Gabby battle it out at the firehouse later that day.**

 **Next Chapter: Shay invites Dawson to spend time at the apartment she shares with Severide. Is she plotting something? Maybe. Someone at the firehouse gets injured and ends up at the hospital. Cool cliffhanger? And more Dawsey feels.**

 **Read and review to find out. Like I said, I'm in the mood to post another chapter later today. If you motivate me enough, i won't disappoint, trust me.**

 **Thank you for your love and continued support. I take feedback very well, good or bad, just bring it. It helps me improve and one day you might just be reading more awesome Dawsey storylines from me.**

 **Love always,**  
 **Gaone.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Yaaayyy! So many Cute and sweet reviews. Thank you guys. :) Like I said, you will be rewarded. So congrats for making me smile. Now I'm returning the favour. Unfortunately, I'm gonna be shooting over the weekend so I will not have time to post another one. I hope 2 chapters a day will make up for it. Don't be sad ok, I'll do my best to write more and have sleepless nights. Thank you for the complements, and don't hesitate to correct my English or my facts on medical stuff or fire stuff. :D I'm neither a Doctor nor a firefighter. :)**

 **This chapter has a lot of intensity and ends in a cliffhanger. I wanted to feel like Derek and Brandt for a day or 2. :)**

 **Once again, I don't own anything but my crazy imagination.**

 **Thanks guys.**

 **Enjoy.**

 **Chapter 6**

Chapter 6

"You coming tonight right?" Shay said to Gabby over the phone.

"Uhmm.." Gabby was unsure of hanging out with the guys from the house on their day off after that hectic shift.

"C'mon Gabby, you deserve some fun night out. Well, at my house, but still, out of your house." Shay sounded on the phone and Gabby swore she could see her puppy face right now.

"I'll see, I'm just exhausted and I'm gonna have to look for a sitter."

"And don't worry, it's just going to be the three of us. You, me and Kelly. We're going to turn this house up-side down." Shay screamed making Gabby hold the phone far from her ears before she heard her go quiet.

"You do realize that you're talking about your own place right?" Gabby said laughing, suddenly convinced to go to their little barbeque of three. Later that night, Gabby was standing at the door of her bestest friend and her best friend's house holding a wine bottle. She had managed to leave Lexi at the apartment next to hers that had a young couple with two kids there. Lexi had asked her mom multiple times if she could sleep over at their place but Gabby never allowed her. Lexi had been super excited when her mom agreed this time around.

Shay opened the door and the noise coming in from the house blocked Gabby's ears sounding like there were a hundred people in there.

"Come in. Woohoo" Shay was shouting, obviously excited to see Gabby and a little tipsy. "Guys, Gabby is here." Gabby was confused at hearing Shay say guys, and before she could ask, there they were. Kelly and Matt standing by the grill putting together charcoal to start the barbeque. Gabby pressed her lips together raising her nose and squinting her eyes nodding at the guys. She did not want to scream hello, so she just nodded and waved. Matt knew Gabby was coming so he was happy when she managed to make it. He had heard Shay say that she was reluctant to come so he begged her to lie and say that it was going to be just the three of them. He knew then she would agree to come. He learnt that Gabby was not a crowd person. She liked smaller groups, and those she was comfortable with. He knew she needed this night with her friends that's why he had suggested Shay and Kelly to do this knowing that she wouldn't have agreed to go to Molly's with him let alone come to his house.

The night went by smoothly with Gabby and Shay dancing in the lounge and the guys grilling some meat talking.

"You look at her like you're a lion which had been put on a vegetarian diet for over ten years and she's a piece of well tendered meat you've been yearning for all your life bro." Severide broke the silence between him and Matt who seemed to be lost in his thoughts looking at Shay and Gabby.

"What?" He snapped back to reality catching the last words Kelly said, "Am not,"

"Are too. Man, your eyes are going to fall off your face if you don't just go up there and talk to her." Kelly said and Matt only shook his head.

The girls came towards the guys holding them a beer each, Shay was laughing hysterically at what Gabby had just said.

"sshh," Gabby was trying to control her friend who seemed to be having so much fun. Almost tripping, Kelly caught her,

"Ok now. Time for your time out." Gabby laughed at what Kelly said to Shay. She loved their friendship. They were pretty awesome. They reminded her of her friendship with Marco. She wondered if they would have dated if Shay wasn't gay. Smiling to herself, she felt a tingle on her arm and turned to see Matt poking her.

"You having a good time?" He asked,

"Yea," she swallowed her drink, "Uhmm, thanks for having me."

"Of course." Matt smiled at her. They stood there in silence not knowing what to say to each other, "So what did you say to Shay that cracked her up like that?" Matt said laughing as if he already heard the joke. Gabby laughed as well before they fell back to silence again.

"You were amazing at that call last shift," Matt complimented Gabby and she smiled.

"Well I couldn't have don't it without you guys. Thank you." Matt nodded and smiled back.

"You wanna have a seat?" Matt offered as he walked towards the bench against the wall still taking care of the grill.

"Sure," Gabby agreed following Matt to sit down.

They started to make small talk about anything they could think of without getting too deep. They never talked about either's past, just the now and the future. There were times when Gabby mentioned Lexi but never explained who she was. She managed to hold back quick and saved herself from revealing her secret. At this point, she was wondering why she was still keeping her a secret. She had made good friends at 51 who have welcomed her with open arms. They are decent people who have formed a real nice second family for each other which made Gabby happy. She thought she could bring her daughter to the station at some point, she just never found the right time, or at-least she always made excuses. She never knew what they would say or think when they learn about her child. There would be more questions she would have to answer and that meant her going back to reliving her past in her stories which was never a pleasure. But Lexi had been asking about seeing where she worked and meeting her friends Gabby was running out of excuses.

Matt noticed that Gabby wasn't listening to him anymore as she stared so far in the distance. He stopped talking and just looked at her as he sipped his drink. She had not noticed that he was silent. When she realized that she turned to look at him only to find him sitting so close to her smiling. She smiled back and looked down blushing. He reached out to lift her chin up so she would face him. He slowly leaned in for a soft kiss that lasted for a few seconds before he pulled away. Still close, Gabby's eyes were close. She was lost in her own thoughts wondering why she was not letting this happen. Why she was not giving Matt a chance because she felt good when she was with him. She could easily speak to him and he listened. She loved his touch and his warm kisses. He was sweet and considerate and he wasn't a coward as he indicated last shift. She opened her eyes and found Matt smiling at her. His right hand was on her left cheek as the other held his beer.

"Are you ok?" he asked her and she only nodded.

"Can I do that again?" he asked her and Gabby licked her lower lip and bit it. She nodded shyly and smiled at him. He smiled back before leaning in for a deeper kiss. This time his hand cupped the back of her head bringing her closer to him. Severide had walked in from putting Shay to bed but he quickly ducked out so as not to disturb the two. He knew that Matt had been holding back on what he felt for Gabby. He was glad that his friend was finally making his move which seemed to go well for him. That made him happy. He liked Gabby as well. He did not understand her at all and he had thought she was weird but she was close with Shay so he trusted his friend's judgement. Especially when she had told him that Matt liked her, he was at first protective but Shay had assured him there was nothing to worry about. After that on again off again relationship with Hallie, Severide had thought that his friend needed something new, something fresh and less dramatic. Maybe this was it, he walked away smiling.

Matt and Gabby sat there making out for a while. Their kiss ranged from being soft and slow to being deep and vigorous every second. They would slow down to take a breather but never broke off from each other's lips. When they finally stopped, they giggled and sipped their drinks. They smiled at each other still sitting so close when Severide walked in.

"What's so funny?" the two turned to face him before looking back at each other and laughed some more.

Matt drove Gabby to her house later that night and he kissed her goodnight when they reached her apartment door before leaving. She had stayed by the door smiling at herself and wondered what the hell she was getting herself into. That's when she needed to make a decision about her daughter. Was she going to wait it out to see what this was with Matt? Or was she going to just take a leap and bring her child to the firehouse and see how things would pen out from there? She decided to go rest and would deal with this the next day.

Next shift, Gabby was all rested up since her daughter spend the entire day at her brother's house. She missed her so much when she was on shift, but when she got home, she would just feel like burying herself under her blankets and not come out for the full 48 hours. She decided to test the waters and see how things were between her and Matt this shift then she would decide what to do.

Matt and Gabby only shared looks and glances but never talked about anything. She could feel him watch her everywhere she was in the house even when they were on calls and she would be working on a patient, she could swear Matt was staring and she was right. Gabby also liked what she saw. Matt was fearless and he would go an extra mile to save a life. She respects people who do that, especially after being in a war zone and seeing many people lose their lives for their country. She shook her head when thoughts of her fearless friend slash baby daddy tried to sneak in to her mind. These days things were better. She could control pushing away those thoughts and her PTSD. She tipped the hat to the new friends she made that made her feel safe hence her not having anxiety or freaking out all the time. Now she was giving that nod to this man who made her insides feel like they were on fire. She smiled to herself. Later that night, they had a pretty interesting call where both truck and squad were required.

Upon arrival, there were other firehouses which were called since the situation was too big for one firehouse to handle. The Chief and his Lieutenants started to give orders to their men who scrambled to do as told. Casey glimpsed at Gabby who was helping the other paramedics set up triage for the victims. She looks so hot when busy doing her job. Matt thought to himself before smiling and ducking into the burning building. Gabby only took a glimpse of him as he ducked into the building.

"Fire department call-out," Severide, Casey, and their crews were making the building searches in each floor.

"Clear," Hermann called out from the third floor.

"Clear," Otis followed who was on the fourth floor.

"Ok, please go down to the truck to bring up the hose, and Cruz, go prepare the aerial, Otis will bring the hose in through the fourth floor window on the west side," Casey ordered his men as he and Severide went up to the fifth and sixth floors.

"Got it Lieutenant," they both replied.

"Hellp! Please help us!" There was a girl screaming on the sixth floor getting the Lieutenants' attention. They ran up the stairs one floor to find the girl, stopping on the way to listen to where the voice was coming from.

"Fire department Call out," Severide screamed trying to get the girl to speak again. "Fire depart..."

"Sshh, listen, listen…" Casey stopped Severide from screaming again. There was a banging sound coming from down the hall, "You hear that?" Casey asked Severide who nodded already motioning towards the room where the sound was coming from. They walked with so much caution as the building seemed to be unstable at the moment. The fire was becoming vigorous. Rushing into the room, they saw a girl on the floor holding a woman who seemed to have passed out. Knowing they couldn't call ambo up since the fire was already deteriorating, they had to come up with a plan to get the two women out the building safe. The girl started to cough from the smoke that was hovering the room at this point.

"Ok, ok, we need to get you two out of here," Casey started to speak as she helped the girl up, "My name is Matt, and we're going to get you out of here ok. What's your name?"

"Sophia." the young girl said her voice shaking as she was trembling.

"Alright Sophia, can you walk?" The girl nodded, still coughing, Severide was checking on the status of the woman lying on the floor.

"She's breathing, her pulse is very weak though, we need to get her out of here Casey," he reported.

Casey went to look out the door to check out the path they would be taking back. "Nope, we're not going back that way," he came back in the room shaking his head looking around to figure out a solution.

"Chief!" Otis screamed pointing out at the building.

"The smoke is turning black," Boden said walking forward to start making some decisions, "Ok gentlemen, we gotta roll out. Everyone, out the building," He ordered. "Casey, Severide, what's your status?"

"Chief, we are on the fifth floor, west side, we got two victims, one can walk, the other is…" _BOOM!_ There was a huge blast coming from the building the noise was so loud everyone stopped what they were doing. There was silence for a minute, everyone confused as they stared at the burning building which had a humongous dark cloud escape from it.

"Casey, Severide, report!" Boden screamed at his radio but got no response, "Casey, Severide, come in." The other firefighters started to gather around the front of the building as if waiting to see the two lieutenants appear at the front door. Shay and Dawson had been standing in one position looking up at the fifth floor with the hopes of seeing their friends at-least wave for help. Everyone could only hope that nothing tragic had happened like the building collapsing trapping them inside or even crashing down on them. The ground had shook a little making everyone nervous about the situation. Machines were beeping unstoppably, people were screaming, children were crying, mothers, and fathers were looking for their kids, some were dead, others in really bad shape. This was a real fiasco going down and not the good one. Gabby looked around trying to see where to start. Looking at all the people who have not been checked, she shook her head to bring herself back to reality and stop thinking about Matt for a while because there was absolutely nothing she could do to save him. She could help who she can and worry about the situation at hand. Calling out to Shay to snap out of it, the two women together with the other paramedics started to get busy. More ambulances came through with doctors from Lakeshore and Chicago Med to give hand at trauma patients. The alarm went off and there was continuous beeping.

"Hey Casey, Casey," Severide tried to yell as he coughed out Casey's name who's suit was beeping. Severide had been thrown to the wall by the big thumb protecting him from the falling ceiling which unfortunately had hit Casey as he covered Sophia. She started to cough struggling for air under Casey. Severide spotted them and started to dig so as to get to them before they suffocated. Their tanks were nearly empty and Severide tried as much not to think about that.

"Casey, Severide, report!" Chief was still trying to get to them. The Chief from Firehouse 73 had wanted everyone to give up and start watering down the fire. Boden disagreed saying his men were still in there and he believed they were going to get out safe. He started to make critical decisions at that point having truck and squad working together. They had already raised the ladder to the west wing of the house which saved them time and Chief decided to go up there to save his men.

Gabby is one person who could not be shaken by anything especially when out on calls. She would go rogue and do anything that would save a life. She would stay focused until her job was done. At this point something was off. She felt her insides tighten worried about Matt. He needed to come out alive. Why? She could not understand why she felt that way at this point. It was like seeing the disaster in Iraq all over again. She had suffered PTSD after but was helped by Marco's family when she stayed with them for a while. The time she moved back to Chicago, they told her they had moved to Seattle and wanted to see Lexi. Gabby had to figure out how she would go about that since she did not want Lexi growing up not knowing her father's family. They were amazing people and had accepted Gabby her entire life. Gabby saw flashes of the bomb explosion and before she knew it, she hit the ground.

"Dawson!" Shay screamed and another paramedic ran over to assist her. Her head had hit a rock and she became unconscious. Without risking anything, Shay decided to rush her to the hospital.

 **Summary: The entire house is brought to a crazy call that endangers some of the firefighters' lives. Gabby is sent to the hospital after collapsing.**

 **Next: Is Gabby going to make it? How does Matt feel about all this? What happens to their relationship? If there's one?**

 **See you again next week. Don't forget to review. Thank you to all of you for tweeting my stories and inviting more people to read. I love this Dawsey fandom. I promise to write even more than I got already. And to all the Doctor Dawson fans, I got you. Next week is a new week and I'm feeling fresh. My badass Docs are coming back! :D**

 **Thanks Em. :)**

 **Have a wonderful weekend all.**

 **Love always,  
Gaone.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys, so sorry about this. I have been having very hectic days at work. I'm actually on my lunch break and decided to upload. I don't like it when yall don't get the Dawsey feels. I mean, there were none in the last ep, just saw them seated playing cards or something. That was cute and sweet, but not enough Dawsey feels. Just keeping my hopes up for season 4 to improve on that.**

 **Anyways, thank you for the feedback and reading my story. And to all those requesting for Doctor Dawson, I have 3 potential directions the story could take, I'm waiting for feedback from my trusted roommate on which direction to go.**

 **Please enjoy MWCBY Chapter 7.**

"Mama?" Gabby heard a little voice sounding so far away yet so close. "Mama please wake up." Lexi said with tears in her eyes and Gabby tried so hard to open her eyes but couldn't. She felt a sudden pain in her chest she could feel her heart sink. That was her daughter and she could not console her. She was confused of what was going on.

"Hey sweetheart, why don't we let mommy rest ok?" Gabby heard a woman's voice approaching. "C'mon baby girl, let's go get some ice-cream and we will come back later alright." Gabby recognized Shay's voice as she got closer relieving the weight that was on her which was Lexi. She heard footsteps and a door sliding to be closed and suddenly she felt alone. A tear dropped down her cheek she felt it burn her skin as it slowly rolled down to her lips.

"How is she doing?" Matt asked Shay who was seated at the waiting area carrying a sleeping little girl in her arms as the entire firehouse arrived after their shift to check on Gabby.

"Aah, she's ok. I called her family, her brother went to pick up his kids from home. They were here all night. This one refused to leave though." Shay whispered to Matt obviously avoiding waking Lexi up as she had trouble sleeping after seeing her mother lay still in bed and not responding to her.

Matt was smiling at the sight of Shay nursing the little girl and thought it suited her. He did not even ask who the little girl was as he was distracted by his own thoughts of losing Gabby before he could even have her. He was playing with Lexi's curls when the doctor walked in to give them an update.

"Family of Gabriela Dawson?" The doctor asked and the entire firehouse stood overwhelming her.

"Okay." She said surprised by the number of people there for this one person. "Aah, Miss Dawson is still not up yet, but before we got into surgery she had mentioned wanting to see Maxi?" The doc said unsure of the name since Gabby had whispered her daughter's name.

"Oh, you mean Lexi." Shay said moving forward to be next to the doctor. "This is Lexi."

"Aah, sorry mam, but we cannot allow children in at the moment. It's…"

"Well you're going to have to mam, and I'm not taking no for an answer." Shay was still whispering but everyone in there could hear the anger her words carried as she rocked the little girl in her arms.

"You know, not long ago Dawson and Shay had a little girl at the back of the ambo while we were on a call and I swear she looks exactly like the one Shay is carrying right now." Otis whispered to Cruz as they stood at the back of the crowd in the room.

"How can you even see how this girl looks like? Her entire face is buried on Shay's shoulder." Cruz smirked at him.

"I'm just saying bro. something is off with this girl."

"What do you have against Dawson anyway?" Cruz asked annoyed by his friend's behaviour towards Gabby ever since she got there. He always came up with gossip and sometimes it turned out to be true, but he just never gives people a chance which was the problem.

"Only close relatives can see her," the doctor said to Shay who seemed to be getting angrier. The entire house started to mumble disappointed that they could not go in and see their friend who has now become like a sister to them. They liked her. She was funny when she wanted to and she kept to herself. She never meddles into other people's business at the firehouse and smiled all the time. She was sweet and got along with everyone, well except for Otis sometimes, but they all liked her and would love for her to know that they were all there for her.

"You see this little human being I'm carrying, she's the closest thing you could ever get to Gabby's relatives right now. Do you understand me?" Shay was boiling, she felt like putting Lexi somewhere so she could smack this doctor. She then decided to come right out and say it but before she could say anything she saw Antonio and his kids run towards them.

"What happened? Is Gab… Is she ok?" Antonio asked. He took long breaths as he spoke and tears started to form in his eyes.

"I'm sorry who are you sir?"

"I'm her brother." He said catching his breath, "These are my two kids and niece." He pointed at each of them as the people from the firehouse stood there watching the scenes in front of them. Severide had come closer to support Shay earlier though he was confused by what she was saying. Now everyone knew what she had been angry about. Lexi was Antonio's niece making her Gabby's only relative who was left at the hospital when her brother left to go get his kids. _'But Antonio has only one sibling, how is she his niece?'_ Matt wondered in his own thoughts before a light bulb lit in his mind. He was unsure, and that only raised questions which he thought he would ask Shay as soon as she put down that baby. _'This child could not be Gabby's'_ Matt thought as he took a deep breath thinking that he was going crazy. Antonio had said it was his niece, he never said it was Gabby's child. Who knows, maybe it's one of his cousin's kids and referred to her as his niece. He has cousins that refer to him as their uncle just because he's older so that's probably what was going on there.

Matt was running all these possibilities in his head when he realized that he only did that because he wanted a life with Gabby. He had felt his world collapse when they got out of that house only to hear that Gabby had fainted and taken to the hospital. He had become angry at himself for not talking to her and letting her know how he felt. The entire night at the firehouse, he could only think about Gabby. The night felt to be longer than any other and was glad to hear the bells ring for them to work. He just could not sit there and wait staring at the ceiling and hurting over a woman he had been in her house only once.

"Ok, only you can go. The kids have to stay behind sir."

"Oh no! She's coming with me." Antonio said as he gently picked Lexi from Shay's arms, "Her daughter is the only person she would actually want to see right now." He said before walking away ahead of the doctor leaving everyone in silence.

They all stood there without saying a word. Even Otis who had figured there was something going on, but he was just not ready for this.

Matt had his jaw slightly open from hearing that. He was not too shocked as he spent the past few minutes trying to put the pieces together. He also could not be surprised at Gabby keeping a big secret like that from him, or from the the entire house. He suddenly felt hurt realizing that she had trusted Shay and only her with her secret. He turned and walked out to get some air. Shay swallowed seeing him and she knew. She could just see it in his eyes.

#######

"Hey,"

"Hey," Gabby responded, her low voice husky as she slowly opened her eyes to see who was there. She smiled when she found Matt seated on a chair by her bed. Feeling something heavy on her left arm she turned to find her daughter sleeping on her bed by her. She smiled, then realized what was going on. Matt was there, Lexi was there. Could he know? She wondered as she turned to face him.

"She looks exactly like you." He said as he reached out to remove a strand of hair that was on her face. She swallowed and only stared at him trying to read his face. Was he angry? Was he disappointed? What was going on with him? She was asking herself questions she could not answer. "Those pretty big brown eyes that twinkle when you smile. The curly brown hair, your laugh, your smile, all of it. I wonder what she got from her father!" Matt said and there was silence. There was just so much. So much he didn't know. At first he just thought Gabby held back because she was in the army or something and was suffering from PTSD or some sort of army related issues when soldiers returned. He had decided to let her be and she would open up at her own pace. Now there was this and he realized there was more to Gabby's story he never imagined.

"The doctor said you should be getting out soon. You had a small injury when you hit your head against a rock so they had to take you into surgery to release the swelling." Matt found himself speaking calmly as he gave Gabby updates regarding her situation. He wasn't even the one to give her that information but felt the need to fill the silence that had formed in the rom. He was surely not ok earlier and all day after receiving the news about Gabby having a five year old daughter she had not shared any information about. Shay had followed him finding him pacing around.

 _"_ _Are you ok?" Shay asked. Matt did not respond, he stood by the balcony taking in some deep breaths. He never expected that. This was big news and he never expected them._

 _"_ _Go away Shay." He spat at her but Shay did not leave._

 _"_ _You know I couldn't tell you Casey," shay said deciding to stand where she was. "I'm sorry." She felt for him. She long figured that Matt was in love with Gabby. Nothing could make someone react like this to a person they did not care about deeply._

 _"_ _I just need some space Shay." He said, his voice was low this time. Shay could hear the vulnerability of it and he leaned against the beam._

 _"_ _Don't think too much of it. It had nothing to do with you." Shay swallowed as she spoke in a quiet voice. She then left after patting Matt on his back._

'What did she mean it had nothing to do with him?' Matt had wondered all day. "Your brother went to get some food. Shay and Severide went to drop off his kids at their mother's." He continued to give her updates of what was going on and she only laid there. She was staring at the ceiling when he spoke and eventually turned to thank him before turning back to place her chin on her daughter's head who slept peacefully. There was silence in the room. Matt sat there in silence, he did not move or say a single thing. He sat there staring at this woman and her daughter as they lay in her hospital bed. The woman he almost lost before he realized he could have, he could never be the most important thing in her life even if he tried. That thought pierced right through his heart and he swallowed. His heart beat was racing as anger and jealousy built in him. He loved her. And now she had a daughter who was a spitting image of her and how could he not love her too? He then started to wonder if she would let him. Would he let her love them? Would they love him? These questions that had no answers were starting to feel like a dark cloud hovering over him and he just could not escape. He wanted answers. But he did not know what to ask. Like where was Lexi's father? Is she a single mother? What had happened? Why didn't she tell him? Deciding he could not handle everything he was feeling, he got up and left the room Gabby was in to go get some fresh air.

Gabby laid there feeling Matt's eyes burning through her skin as he sat there in silence. She did not know what to do. She could not even imagine what was going through his mind. She knew he would have questions. She really never wanted for him to find out about her child this way. Especially Matt. She did care about him and she had noticed that he cared about her too. She just wasn't ready. But why was she feeling like she had betrayed him? She had wondered as she rolled over to put her arm over Lexi bringing her closer to her. She wanted to cry. She wanted to feel all the pain but also wanted to be in someone's arms. Someone to tell her that everything was going to be ok. That's when she thought of Marco. She wondered how their life would have been like if he could have survived. Him, her, and Lexi, a complete family. And possibly a bigger one. She started to sob.

"Mama?" Lexi sounded in their embrace. Gabby quickly rubbed her tears and put on a smile for her daughter.

"It's going to be ok mama." Gabby nodded and brought her kid into a tight hug as her tears streamed uncontrollably. They stayed there for a while in silence as Gabby placed kisses on Lexi's head. "I was scared," Lexi whispered under her mother's embrace who continued to kiss her head.

"There's nothing to be scared of baby, alright!" Gabby whispered, "I'm right here mia mor, I'm right here," she took a deep breath.

####

"Hey," Leslie said as she and Severide approached Gabby's room.

"Oh hey," Matt said standing up from the bench outside Gabby's room.

"Is she not up yet?" Severide asked.

"Oh she is." Matt responded before taking in a deep breath and faking a smile which did not go unnoticed. "I'm going to go to the bathroom." He said before walking away. He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Shay following him. "What now?"

"She's going to be ok you know."

"I know. The doctor said so." Matt said as he turned to walk away again.

"I know she won't say it even if she wanted to, but she really appreciates you being here Casey."

"That's what friends do right?" He said without looking back and opened the door to the men's room before turning over to look back only to find Shay standing still in the hallway looking at him.

##########

"How's she?" Matt asked Shay when he found her lying down on her bunk bed.

"You know where she lives Casey. Why don't you go ask her?" Shay said without opening her eyes as she lay there facing the ceiling as if she was in a casket with her hands placed on her belly. She opened one eye when there was silence only to find Matt still standing there looking out in the distance.

"Do you mind?" she smirked. Matt snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Shay. What she saw did not please her. He looked like he hadn't slept for days with bags on his eyes and that messy hair. Matt was her friend. They were friends before Gabby came along and Shay was sorry that she had to keep that secret from him. It wasn't her secret to tell and she wasn't going to betray a friend just because she had known Matt longer. She just did not like how all this turned which was no one's intention.

"Look," Shay said sitting up, "She asked about you ok. You can either go see her now, or wait till she comes back next shift." Matt nodded but Shay did not know which he was agreeing to. She just shook her head wondering what was going on with him. He had never been like this when he was with Hallie. Even when they would break up, it actually seemed to do him good. She had never seen him like this and it scared her. She just didn't know what to say or do. She was mad at him that he was mad at her but that did not help the situation. She even asked Severide to talk to him but he said he couldn't get a thing. He seemed to have closed them out.

 **Yaay, I finally posted chapter 7.**

 **Summary: Dawson is rushed to the hospital. The firehouse finds out about Gabby's child. Matt struggles with the news of Lexi.**

 **Next chapter: Gabby returns to work. Will the new relationship she has with Matt blossom or perish? Will she finally introduce Lexi to the firehouse?**

 **Thanks for reading my loves. Yall are absolutely amazing. Don't be mad at me ok, I promise to make it up to you. Don't be scared about the storyline, I'm not Derek. :D**

 **Much love to you all. Dr Dawson tomorrow. Yay! :)**

 **Love always,  
** **Gaone.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Heeeyyy, I wasn't going to update today because this wouldn't be fair for the Doctor Dawson lovers. I don't have feedback yet, but I promise to push my friend so that I update Dr. Dawson tomorrow. And you never know, I may upload 2 or even 3 chapters at once. :)**

 **Thanks for the love and the support yall. And to my twitter fam for hinting that I update all the time, yall are awesome. I'm sorry if you feel like Dawsey getting together is taking forever, but i promise it's worth it. I'm the kind of person who likes the suspense and taking things slow, I hope my stories don't annoy you for that. Thanks for keeping up with me guys.**

 **In this chapter, Gabby spends more time with family, and we get some Dawsey sexy time. Like I said, the previous episode lacked Dawsey feels (though I loved all the Gabby feels/Baby Dawsey feels/Shay feels) we need more Dawsey feels. This one has some sexy time, you are allowed to read it a hundred times. ;)**

 **Enjoy:**

 **Chapter 8.**

"Mama, are you going to leave me like daddy?" Gabby felt her heart rip at the sound of her daughter's words. She took a deep breath before walking back to sit by Lexi's bed.

"No baby. I'm not going anywhere ok." She comforted her, "And daddy did not leave you sweetheart. I promise you he would be here if he could." She gave her daughter a genuine answer which seemed to be enough.

"I saw people from your work at the hospital. I didn't get a chance to meet them but I think they are good people mama. They stayed at the hospital for a very long time. And the other firefighter brought you flowers and kissed your forehead. He didn't see me looking. He stayed in your room for a very long time mama. He didn't say anything. He couldn't sleep properly because his chair did not have a place for him to support his head, but I saw him close his eyes and he fall asleep. Miss Shay was there all the time, and…" Lexi went on and on as Gabby rocked her to sleep which she finally gave in to. Gabby found herself crying quietly when her daughter spoke. She had friends who cared about her. A family at 51 that Boden and Shay always reminded her of. That's when she suddenly felt a deep connection to all of them. She had been happy that she agreed to come back to Chicago. She ended up meeting people she could see in her future. People she could trust around her daughter. Friends and family she could count on. She just didn't know what was holding her back from letting them in. She laid there beside her daughter and fell asleep.

"Abuela!" Lexi screamed excitedly when she saw her grandmother outside her window. She had been seated on the couch by her bedroom window looking out for her family to arrive at their house. Shay was helping Gabby make dinner for them in the kitchen. She had been very helpful in the past two days and even drove by every now and then when she was on shift. Gabby had been off the previous shift and was going back the next. She was happy to have had three whole days of rest, though she was sometimes left all alone at home forcing her do go down memory lane. ' _You gotta let go and start creating the future Gabs'_ Shay had said to her when she realized that Gabby would get lost deep in her thoughts and showed sadness obviously thinking about the past. _Lexi needs you to live here in the present love. It's ok to be afraid, but you gotta give it a shot.'_ Gabby smiled thinking of Shay's advice and knowing that her friend was absolutely right.

"Hey sweetie, slow down you'll fall and break something, don't need any more hospital visits ever!" Gabby said when she saw Lexi run down to open the door for their family. She wiped her hands with the kitchen cloth and walked over to let them in when she heard them knock.

"Holaaa!" they all said at once. Dorothy lifted the excited Lexi and started t tickle her making her laugh hysterically.

"Hey sis," Antonio said as they walked in Gabby's apartment and hugged her. "How you feeling today?" he asked kissing her on the cheek.

"All better, thanks to these two." She said kissing him back and pointing to the two girls that have been keeping her company.

"Oh hi Leslie, I was wondering where you've been all this time!"

"HA HA HA! I missed you too detective," Shay said as she hugged Antonio. "And there comes my favourite little minions, come here." Leslie said in her kiddie voice as she opened her arms to hug Antonio's kids.

"I'm not a lil minion aunty Shay," Eva protested.

"Abuella, this is Miss Shay, she's mommy's friend." Lexi said as she and her aunt walked around the house.

"Well nice to meet you Miss Shay,"

"Oh, the pleasure is mine mam." Shay responded after clearing her throat. "And it's Shay, I mean Leslie." She swallowed, "Leslie Shay." She said smiling and nodding her head. She didn't know why she was so nervous. She felt as if she was seeking Gabby's aunt's approval to be her friend or something. Gabby noticed her friend's behaviour and only smiled.

"Well dinner is ready," Gabby said as she led everyone to her small round dining table that was well set.

They all sat, ate, laughed, shared stories, had dessert, and enjoyed their evening. Dorothy was happy to have had a chance to see her sister's kids before leaving to go back to the Dominican. She had been sad for not being able to see Gabby at the hospital. She was glad when she heard that she was discharged and would go back to work soon. She could never be ready to lose her, let alone have Lexi lose her mother especially at that tender age.

"You need to be happy Rie," Dorothy said as she tucked Lexi in her bed and Gabby putting away her toys in the toy box. She only sighed knowing what her aunt was talking about.

"Have you started dating yet?" Dorothy knew that that was one topic her godchild never wanted to talk about, especially with her. She was like her mother. She was close with her mom, but she never had the chance to talk about boys with her. Especially because she was a straight A student who went to medical school and had a long time crush on a senior who decided to join the military right after college. Though that boy was her best friend, she never brought it up to her mom because that would have changed everything. Gabby did not know this, but her mom knew how she felt all along. She just hinted to Antonio to look out for her, which he did.

"You know, you can't always live in the past mia mor. You gotta let…"

"Yes mama." Gabby said in between her teeth and she could not believe what she was about to say, "I have. Started." She swallowed, "Dating," the words were almost as if forced to come out from her mouth when she said them. Dorothy kissed Lexi goodnight before walking to stand by Gabby giving her a stare to go on. Gabby could feel her aunt's presence hover her and she started to regret every saying anything.

"Well, his name is Matt and he's a firefighter," Shay said standing at the door as she overheard the two ladies speaking. Gabby threw her a threatening look daring her to not say another word. Shay picked up on that and pressed her lips together which made Dorothy to turn and stare at Gabby who pretended like nothing happened.

"Ok you two, out with it." Dorothy said as she lightly grabbed Gabby to walk out Lexi's room leaving the door slightly open with the blue light on that Lexi likes. "Who is this Matt and when can I meet him?" She asked in a sassy tone that Shay noted it obviously runs in the family. There were in Gabby's room with the door slightly open. Gabby sat on her bed and Shay got comfortable next to her after spilling out a _'sorry'_ in a whisper.

"Matt is a Lieutenant at 51, He's a stand-up guy." Antonio said as he peeped through Gabby's door and Shay could only let out a small laugh.

"Seriously?" Gabby said before throwing a pillow at Antonio who ducked and shut her door. "Don't wake up Lexi Toni!" Gabby said as she quickly opened her door peeping her head out in the hallway and whispered trying not to make any noise. Her daughter was a light sleeper, just like her, and she wanted her to get as much rest as she could since they both hadn't been sleeping well in the past few days. "Get in here," she ordered him and he followed.

"Look, Matt and I are not dating, we're just, you know," she swallowed trying to come up with the correct explanation that she could believe herself. "I don't even know, I mean, I didn't even tell him about Lexi and he found out in the most awkward way possible. Soo…" her voice was trailing off. She felt embarrassed but relieved at the same time. It's not like her to share her feelings and thoughts especially on something like this. She preferred handling it herself.

"He sounds like a great guy," Dorothy said smiling as she walked over to hug her niece.

"I haven't even said anything about him," Gabby said quietly under her aunt's embrace.

"You don't have to, I saw the way your face lit when Alexandro and Leslie mentioned him," Gabby only smiled.

"Nobody calls me that aunty," Antonio said after a long silence and the three ladies laughed quietly. "Alright, my kids and I are leaving now," he announced as he walked out Gabby's room.

"Thanks for coming mama. I always miss you, and Lexi as well." Gabby said as she hugged her aunt.

They all prepared to go to bed since Dorothy had her flight back to the Dominican the next day.

############################

"Heey look who's back!" Herman said loudly announcing to the entire house when Gabby and Shay walked in at the firehouse. The two ladies smiled as everyone came around to hug Gabby.

"Thank you guys. And thank you for coming to the hospital and being supportive. I really appreciate it." Matt looked over at Shay who shook her head.

"So when are you bringing the little one to see the house?" Hermann asked. Gabby looked around and her eyes met Matts who looked at her sipping his coffee. She swallowed and brought her attention back to Hermann smiling.

"Ah, she would love to come here. I just, wouldn't want her to get in your way." Gabby said slightly smiling.

"You kidding me! We have kids here all the time." Boden said as he jumped in on the conversation. He had met Lexi when he visited Gabby's family at her brother's house but did not say a word to anyone, which surprised her. He also knew Gabby really well and he kept his distance. He knew she was a smart girl and he could help her out on anything she needed or asked for.

"Yeah, we had Otis' nephews and niece, my kids, the Darden boys that Casey had taken care of, his niece," Herman said pointing at Matt who did not flinch. His eyes were still fixated on Gabby and she could swear she felt her body soak in a pool of her own sweat at his stares.

"Well, thanks. I'll bring her sometime." Gabby said that so that this didn't turn to be a long argument with everyone trying to convince her to do something she did not want to do. It's not like she didn't want Lexi to see where she worked or meet everyone, she just did not want to overwhelm her. Or even get her excited for a life that was not true. They all dispersed to go to their respective places when Shay and Gabby walked to the locker rooms to change.

Matt followed Gabby across the apparatus floor to the ambo that evening. She felt his presence behind her but she just ignored him. Trying to jump in the back of the ambo to start inventory, Matt grabbed Gabby by the arm to the other side so that they could not be seen by the squad guys seated at their table. He backed her against the ambo making Gabby get short of air.

"Lieutenant!" she managed to sound out his name, but Matt did not speak. He pressed his body against Gabby's which made her tense up. She swallowed hard, confused as to what he was doing. Matt seemed like he was on a conquest, his face was straight serious and his eyes were stern. He bent to kiss Gabby on her neck which made her react the way she never wanted to. She never wanted to show him how weak he made her. She could surrender anything to this man, but she could not let herself do that. At this point, Matt was already deep in love with this woman and he could not hold back any longer. He wanted her to know that. He knew she felt something for him too but did not want to show it. Every time they met, or were together in a room, or out with friends, all Gabby did was tease him. His eyes would search the entire room looking for her only to find her staring at him, she would give him that sexy side smile, or wink, and sometimes she would even bite her lower lip. That made Matt react in ways he never thought he would. He felt like Gabby was punishing him for something he was unaware of, and if it meant him playing her game to find out, that is what he was going to do. Gabby's body was tense and he felt that.

"Relax babe," Matt whispered and he continued giving her soft kisses, now moving down to her collar bone. He wanted her to break, to give in to this feeling because he knew she felt it too. As stubborn as Gabby is, she held on to her ground. Matt started to caress Gabby's body, trailing his fingertips up and down her arms giving Gabby a slight tickle. She took in a deep breath which only annoyed Matt because that only showed she was keeping her ground. He then decided to go further. If he was going to get this woman to give in to his sexual advances, he had to do better than that. He slip his hand up her CFD shirt and felt her body tremble a little. Gabby closed her eyes as Matt slip his fingers under her bra touching her nipples. Gabby was starting to feel her body giving in. No matter how strong she thought she would be, she couldn't resist Matt's advances. She started to feel her insides explode when he bit her a little on her neck which made her jump. Gabby was now panting. She brought her hands to the back of Matt's head her fingers playing with his hair which made Matt smile. He was getting there, he thought. His right hand cupped her breast and caressed it making Gabby let out a sound. The other was on her hip. At this point, Matt knew he had her, so he quickly grabbed Gabby's arms to hold them up against the rig and stared right into her eyes.

Gabby was breathing heavily at this point. Her lips partly open signalling Matt to kiss them however he wanted. She was now feeling the need. Matt did not react to that, rather, he pressed his aroused self against Gabby's body. She felt him, she felt him want her. He pressed harder as Gabby took quick breaths trying to lift herself up to Matt's level so he kisses her. When he felt that his job was done, Matt backed away so quick Gabby almost fell. He stood there watching her, breathing heavily.

"Now you know how I feel," Matt said quietly before walking away towards his quarters. Gabby was left there astonished. She did not understand what had just happened. She felt her body tremble. How could she let him do that to her? How could she react to him like that? What was wrong with her? Gabby was silently screaming to herself as she rolled down the rig bringing her knees to her chest. Her body had disappointed her, she showed Matt how much she wanted him, what he did to her. She was now exposed. Letting out a little sob, she kicked herself for being so stupid and falling for him.

Matt was breathing so hard when he got to his quarters closing the door behind him. His heart was beating so fast he held his hand to his chest. He was so surprised at himself that he managed to let go of Gabby after pulling that stunt. He knew he had taken it far when he pressed himself against her body, feeling her, letting her feel him. How she made him feel. He was now pacing in his office, constantly running his fingers in his hair thinking about Gabby. Thinking about her daughter and what that all meant. Wondering how she was feeling, what she was thinking. He was hoping his plan would work because he was also punishing himself. He hoped that Gabby wouldn't be mad at him for that, or did not push her away. Things could go either direction; Gabby could regain her big wall distant status and even never talk to him or she could admit her feelings for him and come knocking on his door. The latter did not happen that night during shift so Matt was worried. He did not even want to go to the kitchen to eat though he was starving. What if he came across Gabby? He thought, she was really good at hiding and being unreadable but he was not. He needed to use the bathroom though.

"Chow's up!" Mills called out. Gabby wanted to go to her bunk and be left alone. When she heard everyone being called out to eat she decided to take this opportunity to go sink herself in bed and left alone. Walking up to sneak past Matt's quarters without being noticed, she was checking coast in all directions. Matt opened his door to go to the bathroom knowing everyone was called out to eat, but he bumped into Gabby.

"Oh, sorry!" they both said. Matt grabbed Gabby by her arms as he almost knocked her to the ground. Gabby's heart beat faster, she was running out of breath. She felt Matt's gaze cut deep into her soul. She felt him read her. Afraid that he was going to see deep into her life, she freed herself from his hands.

"Uhm.. sorry..I.." she pointed at her bunk bed indicating that she was headed to bed.

"Yeah. Sorry." Matt squinted his eyes still looking at her trying to read her body language as he put his hands in his pockets. He couldn't get anything from it, he moved to the side letting her pass which she did in what seemed like the speed of light. Matt couldn't handle it. This had to be dealt with, he thought and decided to do whatever it took so that he and Gabby could come to terms with what was happening between them.

Gabby felt a presence beside her bed. Opening her eyes slowly, one after the other she hoped it would be Shay, or even the Chief. Now wishing to be in trouble so that the Chief would be standing by her bed calling her to his office. ' _Anyone but Matt please. Anyone but Matt'_. She repeated this in her head. When her eyes were finally open, Matt was standing there cross armed staring at her. She gave him a brow trying to figure out why he was standing there. Hasn't he punished her enough back at the ambo? She thought, what now? Was he going to press her against her own bed only to leave her there longing for more? She decided to get up before Matt had the opportunity to do that again.

"Don't you think we need to talk?" Matt finally broke the silence.

"No?" Gabby answered in a more sarcastic tone trying to give him a hint that she absolutely has nothing to talk to him about. She knew she was lying to herself. They did need to talk. Gabby swallowed hard when Matt sat beside her. "Look, I'm sorry for not telling you about Lexi, I swear I was…"

"Dawson!" Matt started to speak again, he only called her Dawson when he was serious, and it seemed like he was not fooling around at this moment. "Tell me we did not share a great connection at your house the first night you arrived in Chicago and earlier today by the ambo. Tell me you don't feel something, anything between us." He paused, suddenly the words were harder for him to say them out, but he continued, "just tell me you want me to be out of your way and I will happily do that," he was lying, he started to regret giving her that option the moment he said it. Since Gabby was silent he spoke again, "but please don't suggest we become "friends"", he said this making air quotes, "because I don't think I could handle that." Matt finally spoke his heart out. He felt relieved that he did that but also felt naked.

There was no going back now. Gabby was there blinking so fast one would think she was about to get a seizure. She bit her lower lip and swallowed. She wanted to tell Matt that she would rather be friends, but by the look of things, that was not an option. Matt had his face straight serious like he did before back at the rig. It was intense making Gabby feel so small. The air started to feel thin and she started to take deep slow breaths.

"I have a child Matt." Was all she said barely whispering.

Matt held her chin with his index finger and lifted her head to face him. Her lips started to tremble. Why can't she move? Why is she still sitting there? She asked herself in her thoughts. Before she knew it, Matt was kissing her. This time he was not rough like earlier. He was not aggressive or pushy. It was as if he wanted to see her reaction. When she didn't react, he pulled away, not too far though. There was a really small space between them their noses were almost touching. Gabby was breathing in small breaths it made Matt blush. He smiled at the corner of his lips which made Gabby smile as well. She licked her lower lip and leaned closer to him. She perked his lips and stayed there with her eyes open to see his reaction. As if frozen, Matt had his eyes open as well and he smiled, their lips were still touching. He took his hands to hold Gabby's face bringing it closer to his. Deepening their kiss, Gabby moved her body closer. She was doing it, she was letting Matt know that she also wants him. Matt was happy, his hands were now on Gabby's waist and hers were scrambling his hair. He lifted her up to his laps and Gabby opened her legs to sit on him without resisting. She was on top of Matt vigorously kissing as if battling with their mouths. Matt's hands were rubbing Gabby on her back tickling her which made her giggle a little in between their passionate kissing.

"Would you guys mind taking this somewhere, I don't know, behind closed doors?" Shay said after clearing her throat standing by the bunk which only made Gabby jump almost falling. Matt caught her and brought her closer to him in a tight hug. He did not want to let go. He had her and he wanted to tell her that every single chance he got. Gabby looked into his eyes and smiled. She felt like she was in a dream that was going to be ripped from her soon. Getting back to her senses, she pulled away and got off Matt's lap. She finally looked at Shay who was giving her the look. Her embarrassment was now showing, she felt her eyes tear up not knowing what to do. Matt got up and turned her to face him. He kissed her on her forehead and motioned her toward his quarters. Gabby gave Shay a little nudge as they passed by her. She winked at Gabby as if giving her a nod to continue what she and Matt had started. In his quarters, Matt let go of Gabby's hand. He did not want to seem like he was controlling her or making her do something she wasn't ready for. Breaking the silence, Matt spoke as he motioned to seat on his bed leaving Gabby standing by the closed door.

"Tell me what's running through your beautiful mind right now." Matt requested, knowing that Gabby blushed every time he gave her a compliment. She did not disappoint, she had a slight smile on the corner of her lips. Taking a seat at Matt's desk she started.

"I think we're both thinking the same thing." Matt was nodding as she spoke, "We can keep this on the down low and you can come by my house when Lexi is at my brother's." She continued, without giving Matt a chance to speak, "We can alternate between my place and yours during the nights that we're not on shift, and also, we gotta make sure to set some rules." She added.

"Rules?" Matt asked confused,

"Yes, rules. We are not allowed to go on "dates", or kiss in public, or send each other…you know… sweet texts. This is just a sexual relationship right?" Matt had his mouth wide open hearing all this, he thought he would vomit out his insides at the sound of Gabby's words. He didn't know what to say, he was purely shocked and speechless. "Most importantly, we're not allowed to have "feelings" for each other." Gabby concluded.

Matt was still in shock. What the hell was Gabby saying? _Someone pinch me and tell me she's joking_.

"Casey?" Gabby was snapping her fingers, "Casey?" Matt was brought back to real life. Gabby was standing right in front of him with her eyes wide open. "Are you ok?" _Of course I'm not okay_. He wanted to yell but he only swallowed. Trying to regain his balance and his thoughts he finally spoke.

"I do not agree to the "terms and conditions" you just laid out." He spat at her with a shrugged face showing he was annoyed. Gabby only raised her eyebrow. She knew that was a long shot, but that was the only solution she could come up with to have hot steamy sex with Matt but still keep her walls up. Matt got up from his bed and started to pace trying to digest every word Gabby had said. "So let me get this," he said, "you want us to continue what we started only not have a relationship?" Matt asked confused at this idea Gabby had in mind.

"Oh no. we will have a relationship," Gabby replied, "I think they call it…" She was snapping her fingers thinking of the name, "…friends with… benefits?" her voice was trailing, getting lower as she finished the sentence, embarrassed of what she had said as well. She hoped Matt would buy it though, pressing her lips tight and playing with her fingers, she looked at Matt who was still pacing around his small office in shock.

 **Summary: Dorothy pays her family a visit and has advice for Gabby concerning her love life. Matt approaches Gabby in a more direct way putting himself out there. Gabby finally gives in. They both try to DTR but it is definitely not what Matt had in mind.**

 **Next Chapter: Will Gabby and Matt get into the 'friends with benefits' relationship? What's it gonna take for Gabby to break down that huge wall and just let Matt in? Will she finally bring Lexi to the firehouse?**

 **Thank yoooouuu all for reading. Please don't forget to review. I did not get as much reviews for chapter 7, maybe yall did not like it as much? Just let me know even when you don't like a chapter and why ok. Pleeeeaaase. Thanks guys. Yall are awesome.** **And don't hesitate to hint at me if there are some inappropriateness there, I'll gladly try to keep it PG. I'm not sure how to change to make it for an older audience.** **If you review, I'll probably update again tomorrow. And I got a new Dawsey story coming up called "Secret Agent". What will happen seeing Gabby and Matt not as firefighters or paramedics or doctors? Let me know if you're interested.**

 **Thank you again.**

 **Love always,  
Gaone.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Heeeyyy. God I'm so sorry for taking forever to update. It's been real this side. Yall need to thank my tweeps for this chapter because they've been nagging me this whole time, lol, Love you all still. :D It's confusing writing 3 fanfics, I had to re-read each one to make sure I did not mix up the sl's. Hopefully yall don't pick up some inconsistencies.**

 **This chapter follows the crazy 'Friends with Benefits' idea that Gabby suggested in order for her to be with Matt just with no commitment. The next chapter has so much drama, action, and some pretty strong feels. Brace yourselves. :)**

 **Enjoy**

 **Chapter 9**

"Friends with benefits?" Shay said astonished as they drove out the firehouse to a call sent to them by main. "Lady, are you kidding me?"

"Stop overreacting Shay. It was merely a suggestion." Gabby responded.

"A ridiculous one! To Matthew Casey?" Shay continued, "You are one complicated puzzle Gabriela Dawson. What did he say?"

"He didn't take it well. I think he felt disrespected. But I don't think I insulted him..." Gabby started to defend herself, "I mean..I…I suggested we keep seeing each other, you know. Only secretly and no strings attached. That's a man's dream come true right? Especially that I have a kid? I mean wouldn't he be relieved?" Gabby was looking for Shay's approval. She has made up her mind, she just needed support from her best friend.

"Maybe for other men Dawson. But not this one." Shay replied, "I don't know why you wouldn't want to be with Casey." Shay's voice was now low and soft, "I mean, he's humble, he's sweet, and he is clearly into you Dawson." Gabby was biting her lip, knowing that Shay was right but she did not want to admit it. "Casey is the kind of man who would want to hold hands in public to show you off to the world. He would look out for you and check on you every now and then to see that you're doing ok. He's the kind of man to send you flowers just because, and even support you in everything you choose to do. And he's pretty good with kids." Shay was saying this with so much passion trying to convince Gabby to change her mind.

"Yea. Until he grows tired of me, or he finds someone better who has no damaged history. Or a child." Gabby said quietly, "Or one day we're at a call and I see him for the last time as he walks into a burning building." Gabby finally took a deep breath. Shay went quiet. She was looking at her friend who was holding back tears. "What if I give him a chance huh? Open myself up to what you're suggesting, and it gets taken away from me again? Just like that." she said quietly, Shay extended her hand to hold Gabby, "I know that sounds a lil selfish, but I can't go through that again Shay. I just can't. I absolutely cannot let my little girl go through that." Her tears were now streaming down her face. She had thought about this long and hard. The time she returned home from the hospital, she found out Matt never went home. That made her smile. She knew she could count on him, it only made her sad that he was a firefighter and her father was once hospitalized for a very long time after a bad call they had. She would never want her child to witness that. She was conflicted between finding happiness and protecting her child from everything.

"You can't live in the 'what if's' Dawson. That's not life." Shay replied in a soft tone, realizing that her friend has had it bad and needed a friend at this point. Someone to support her and not try push her to make a decision she wasn't ready for. They finally arrived at their call. Getting their equipment, they ran towards the house address which main had sent them to.

"Hey, are you good?" Shay touched Gabby on her shoulder trying to read her face as they stood on the front porch of the house waiting for the residents to open for them.

"Yea I'm good." She replied. Gabby was good at her job. She never let her personal life get in the way of her professional life. She proved that when she was in combat and when she was a resident at Chicago med. Her first priority was to save lives and she had sworn to herself that she would give up anything to be able to do that, and do it exceptionally.

"Finally you've arrived. What took you so long? My wife is not moving." A man said after opening the door letting the two paramedics in the house. Shay rolled her eyes swinging her head to look at Gabby who had a serious look on her face. They walked in and the woman started to seizure.

"How long has this been going on sir?" Gabby screamed as she and Shay ran over to a woman who was lying on the floor at the bottom of the stairs.

"Aaah, I… I don't know, I mean, she was lying there still for a while before you guys arrived…" the man was rambling, his words not making sense and Shay gave him a suspicious look.

"Give me a dose of midazolam," Gabby said and Shay handed over the syringe for Gabby to inject the woman who finally stopped seizing. "I'm Gabby, this is my partner Leslie, what's your name?"

"Bob,"

Bob, can you tell me what happened?"

"Gabby," Shay whispered when she noticed blood by the stairs, Gabby looked up to see the man pacing around showing distress.

"We need to get her out of here now," Gabby whispered to her partner when her phone rang.

"Are you gonna pick that up?" Bob asked when Gabby's phone rang again and Shay agreed.

"Hey, just check who it is, maybe it's something urgent," Shay said as she moved over to Gabby's side to finish up with the IV.

"Hello," Gabby was frantic when she picked up the phone.

 _'_ _Truck 81, squad 3, truck accident on 5th and Adelaide street.'_ A voice of a woman sounded calling the house to a rescue. The men scrambled and different ambos were called since ambo 61 was still out on a call.

Gabby and Shay had to act fast to save a woman's life and also make sure her daughter was ok. They had heard main announce the accident over their radios. The accident was said to be by Adelaide private school which is where Lexi goes to school.

"Hey lady, are you gonna help my wife or not," Bob said as he stood so close to Gabby she could feel his breath on her neck.

"Hey back off, we're doing all we can." Shay came to her partner's defense who had come by to assist put the woman on the backboard. "You have not been any help at all not telling us what happened here sir, we need to take her to the hospital and you need to come with us for questioning," Shay concluded as she and Gabby lifted the backboard.

"You two are not going anywhere," Bob said and the two paramedics heard a gun click making them stop on their tracks. "Now put her down and treat her here. I'll then tell you when you can leave," the two stood still not knowing what to do. Gabby was never afraid in times like this. Hell she had lived in a war zone where they had bombs fly over them every hour. But right here, right now, at this moment, she knew she had so much to lose, and she could not let that happen. She could not let her daughter grow up without a parent and that scared her. Shay could sense her partner's fear and she decided to take lead.

"Sir, we are going to do as you say. But you're gonna have to let us go after that." Shay finally spoke after the long silence trying to negotiate for their lives.

"Stop talking and do what I say b*tch!" Bob screamed waving his gun at Shay. They were still facing the door but were so far they could not make it if they tried to run. Gabby had her eyes closed the entire time and Shay could feel her hands shake at the other end of the backboard.

"Ok. Ok. You are in charge here. My partner and I are gonna put your wife down," Shay said as she motioned for them to gently place the woman on the floor, "Then we'll give her the medication she may need for the night. Is that fine?" Bob only nodded and seemed relaxed when the two paramedics worked. "She still needs to see a doctor, she may not…

"Shut up. Just shut up and let me think…" he started to breath frantically which did not go unnoticed. Gabby's phone rang again and she tried to pick up but was stopped by his fist and she fell.

"What are you trying to do?" Bob shouted as he lunged at Gabby, Shay tried to jump to her friend's rescue but he pointed the gun back at her and she stopped with her hands in the air.

"Ok look, we're not gonna call the police I promise." Shay started to speak trying to help both sides and negotiate with this man.

"I need to check my partner, you hit her head pretty bad."

"Fix my wife first," Bob commanded.

"I'm gonna need my partner's help for that, we told you she needs a doctor and we're not doctors sir, so please let me help my partner so we can help your wife," Bob finally gave in and motioned for Shay to help Dawson.

 **At the firehouse**

After the bells sounded, the men scrambled to put on their gear and ready to leave.

"Capp, Tony, bring your equipment, looks like the gas is leaking we need to get these men out of this truck now," Severide ordered as he ran towards the truck that had hit a power pole which was now unstable and hanging over a classroom.

"Casey, get your team into the school and evacuate everyone," Boden ordered before Matt called over to his men to hustle.

"Alright, Mouch, first floor, Hermann, second floor, Otis, third floor, I'll go round back and clear out the playground." Matt shouted giving out orders to his team as they all ran into the school.

They were so many screams at the back when Matt arrived. The cable had given up and collapsed on the jungle gym that had a couple kids playing on it. Two kids fell and looked hurt while the rest were still holding on to the unstable construction.

"Ok, everyone, we're here to help you, I need you guys to keep calm ok, you're gonna be fine. Just don't move alright. I'm Matt, and my team is here to help you ok." Casey was trying to keep the kids calm as he realized that any movement would make the whole thing come down.

"Chief, we got a problem," Matt whispered in his radio so as not to scare the kids who looked frightened enough.

"What is it Casey?" Boden sounded over his radio,

"When the pole came down, it landed on a jungle gym behind the classrooms and there are a couple of kids up there, two are on the floor and I just checked both of them, it seems like they have broken bones, we need medics here now, and squad." Though Matt was whispering, he made sure to say everything clearly as quick as he could. He did not want to move the kids.

"Wait, is that…"

"Little Dawson?" Severide said cutting Otis when they spotted Lexi holding on to a log on with one hand and holding onto a little hand with another.

"Ok, strap me in, I'm going up there," Matt said as he put on his gear and walked toward the tree.

"Casey stop!" Boden said stopping Matt on his tracks, he did not turn as he looked up to talk to the kids.

"Hey guys, you're doing a great job up there ok," He started to speak to the kids who seemed to be holding on as he asked, "I'm gonna be up there in a minute alright, just stay still," he swallowed, he wanted to speak to Lexi but didn't know where to start. His heart was beating so fast, he felt his insides tighten. He had to do something, he had to get Lexi down from there and keep her safe. Gabby would hate him if he failed to save her only child. _'Oh My God Gabby!'_ Matt thought wondering where the paramedics were. They had been gone for too long for a call that only required an ambo.

"You can't go up there from that side, we need to find a new solution, this construction is too unstable to take in any more weight." Boden whispered to Matt and Severide. They stood there for a while looking around to see where they could go up to get the kids.

"Ok, it looks like we have seven kids up there, the four are stable on the west side, one in the middle, he's actually the easiest to get to, and those two up there on the east side." Severide said as they looked up pointing trying to strategize.

"I got it," Matt screamed, "Cruz, bring the truck to the building next door and pull up the ladder, we can get the four kids on the west side." Cruz ran over to do as requested, "Otis, bring the small ladder and get that little boy stuck between the two branches, make sure to place the ladder on the fence and not on the tree." Electric shocks started to spark when Otis tried to go up the ladder making the kids even more frightened. The principal and two teachers were standing next to the guys trying to talk to the kids to calm them down.

"Mam, who's that kid?" Matt asked Mrs Lorenzo, the school principal who told Matt the kid's name.

"Ok Tim, you need to let go now ok. I need you to jump and lunge onto this firefighter on the ladder ok. It's gonna be ok, he's gonna catch you alright. Do you trust me?" Matt said and the little boy nodded. He had tears in his eyes.

"Chief, we need the power to be shut now, what's taking so long?" Severide screamed over his radio and Chief notified him that they were working on it.

"I can't hold on, I can't hold her anymore, my hand hurts Lieutenant!" Lexi screamed in small cries as she held a little girl who seemed to have lost consciousness. She was holding onto to a log with her other hand which seemed to be their only hope, if she doesn't let go.

"Ok, we need to act fast and we need to act now." Matt whispered to Severide when Otis walked by with the little boy he managed to save. "Aaahh, how bout we bring the ladder across from the other side when Cruz and Hermann are done?" Matt was trying to come up with ideas to get to Lexi but everything seemed impossible and he was getting really frustrated. He couldn't give up, something had to work even if it meant him going up there risking his own life. He just had to make sure he wasn't going to risk Lexi's or the other little girl's life. He was now shaking, he paced around in small circles thinking really hard. He thought of Gabby, he thought of what she would think if he failed to save Lexi. He had to do something, if no one was going to help him, he couldn't just stand there and do nothing. It killed him to know that they were all stuck.

"Where are Shay and Dawson?" The Chief asked when he finally arrived at the hospital from his meeting at headquarters.

"Aaah, they're still at the call," Otis responded before showing confusion.

"It has been five hours now, what kind of call is that?" The Chief exclaimed as he reached for his phone to call.

"Oh we tried calling, their phones are off." Severide said, "Maybe they left them in the rig!" He shrugged.

"Alright, main confirmed there is something wrong and that Dawson and Shay should have been back by now. They're sending cops at the location now." Boden announced before leaving to meet with the electricians.

They were back here again. First it was Lexi, and now it was Gabby the woman he loved. How could his life go from zero to sixty? He wondered to himself. He found himself praying to God and pleading for him to keep this little girl alive and well. He didn't understand what it was but he felt a great connection to her. He could not even imagine what Gabby was going through at this moment, out on a call and not being able to be here.

Matt suddenly felt torn. He wanted to get into his truck and drive straight to that house to rescue Gabby, but at the same time, he had to save Lexi. He wanted to stay there by her side and let her know that everything was going to be ok. He had to, that's what Gabby would want him to do. He thought.

"Where's Casey?" Boden asked when he finally managed to get the power cut and was standing by Severide who had been talking with the principal trying to figure out more ways to try bring the ladder in from the third floor and rescue the two girls who were now the only ones left stuck. The crowd looked around only to find Matt climbing up the tree from the neighbouring building which was a car garage.

"Casey, you need to get down from there, you can't be sure that that's a good idea!" Boden yelled, he was scared for Casey, but more so scared for the two little girls. He practically raised Gabby and Antonio, and when Gabby had Lexi he never got the chance to be there since Gabby moved away. He and the Dawson family tried to reach out but Gabby had shut everyone out. He was so happy when he came across Gabby's letter applying to be a paramedic in Chicago, Chief Tiberg had placed her somewhere else but Boden had begged him to bring her to his house. He had to keep his word that he would look out for his late best friend's kids and thought it would be easier if they were around. Right now at this point, his brave lieutenant was risking his life to save Gabby's child when he should be the one up there. He then decided to go along with Casey's plan, it had to work because he doesn't know if he could live with himself if anything were to happen to Lexi.

"Severide, bring your squad, we need to find way to keep this tree as stable as we could, even if we have to do it with our own hands!" Boden commanded before Severide went around to order his men to help him out with the squad equipment. Casey was already up the tree and he had his ropes tied around him ready for the rescue.

"Hey there," he said when he finally got up the tree on the other side. He noticed that Lexi was pinned in by a branch that broke and the little girl she was holding had her weight pulling her down as her body hung on the other side. Lexi was shaking. She did not show any signs of fright, she was shaking probably because her hands were becoming numb for holding on to that weight for so long, Matt concluded. "You're doing great ok," Matt swallowed, he felt tears starting to form in his eyes. He looked right into Lexi's eyes who was looking up trying to see him but the sun was blinding her. Matt saw the resemblance now. She looked just like her mother. He thought. His heart started to pace and he started to feel his forehead sweat. Taking a deep breath, he decided to go along with his plan. He loved Gabby, and this little girl just stole his heart with her smile the first time he saw her. And now, she just looked like a little Gabby in purple. "I'm Matt, I work with your mom,"

"I know Lieutenant, please help." Lexi swallowed trying to stay calm as she spoke in her tiny voice. "She's gonna fall and I can't feel my arm anymore," She gave out a little cry but shook it off by taking a deep breath. If she was terrified by what was going on and the situation she was in, Matt could have sworn she did a great job hiding that. He could not even believe he was dealing with a five year old.

"You're so brave Lexi, I'm gonna be down there in a bit ok," Lexi only nodded as she pressed her lips together and shut her eyes.

"Lieutenant, the rail is coming up, you can actually cross over," Cruz screamed as he controlled the ladder on the truck.

"No!" Matt responded, It's gonna take too long, "He said before finishing up clicking in his belt after tying an anchor around the tree he stood on. He threw over the rope to a branch that seemed more stable on the jungle gym and slid over to the other side landing right next to the two girls. The lower construction started to collapse and that's when Matt felt his insides rip from the sounds of Lexi's cries. She finally broke down from her composure. She held on long enough but when the tree shook from Matt's weight, Lexi slipped and the little girl she was holding on to also slipped from her hands. That's when she gave in to what was going on. That was her friend Nora, Lexi cried but only stopped when she saw that Matt had caught Nora.

"I got her, I got Lexi," Matt cried out trying to get Lexi to breathe and stop crying. He had to keep her as calm as possible so that she doesn't shake the broken play palace further. "I'm gonna need you to sit tight ok, you did absolutely great alright," Matt said as he slowly pulled back to slide down so that he gives Nora to the paramedics awaiting on the ground. He was saved by Cruz who finally got the rail up so he took the little girl away.

"Oh my God my baby!" Matt had a familiar voice sound from below but his focus turned so quick to Lexi so that she does not react.

"Hey hey, Lexi!" He called out but Lexi did not pay attention as she tried to turn to see her mom who was running towards the tree. "ALEXIS!" Matt now screamed as he saw the brunch break he had no choice but to lunge catching her mid-air. The rope that he had tied around his waist broke their fall as it twirled around the ladder, but had an impact on Matt as it tightened harder. Gabby stood there still as she was in shock of the scenes that had just taken place before her. She just witnessed her daughter fall from a ten metre play tree only to be caught mid-air by this man she had just fallen for. Her mouth was wide open and tears streamed down her face as Shay held on to her. She had stopped her from running to get up the tree so as to save her daughter herself.

"Dawson!" Shay called out after a few minutes of silence when they watched as Cruz controlled the rail to set Matt and Lexi down safely on the ground. "Hey, Gabby,"

"Yea, yeah, I'm good," she was shaking, she could not believe what just happened. She couldn't even move but was forced to when she heard her daughter's little cries making her stumble over to her side.

"Hey sweety," Gabby said swallowing, trying to hold back tears, "it's ok, I'm right here ok, mommy's right here," she said kissing her forehead as ambo 24 put her on the gurney and into the ambo, Gabby following. She then caught a glimpse of Matt before the doors shut. He just stood there. He stood there looking at them. She didn't know what to do. She just let the tears flow and just stared at him. The doors shut and she didn't say a word. She didn't nod, or smile, or say a word. The doors shut and she just sat there holding her daughter's hand while the man who saved her stood there looking and she didn't say a word. The doors shut and the ambo rushed them to med.

"Hey Lieutenant, LIEUTENANT!" Cruz screamed as Matt fell to the ground. He had to hold on for Lexi. He couldn't let her see him weak or broken because someone had to be ok. His waist was hurt from the rope as it broke their fall. Gabby had stared right into his eyes and he felt his insides swirl. He wanted her to know that he was ok and she should only worry about Lexi. But right after they left, his body gave in and he could not take control anymore. He felt his knees give up on him and he hit the ground.

"Make some room guys," Hermann said as he opened the truck door giving the guys space to bring Matt in, "Alright, hit it Cruz." He said before the fire alarms went off and truck 81 speeding to the hospital.

 **Summary: So much action. Shay and Dawson were kept hostage by a man whose wife had a seizure. The firehouse was called to an accident that caused damage in a school. Lexi's school. Lexi and some other school kids were stuck on a jungle gym that was collapsing due to the accident. The firehouse had to act fast to rescue the kids. Matt and Lexi had their moments.**

 **Next Chapter: Will Matt be ok? Lexi? How about Gabby? Now so much is coming up where we will see how Gabby's situation will bring her closer to Matt.**

 **Thank you all for reading my loves. Thanks you to all of you who write fanfics and support everyone else's, yall are awesome. And thanks for tweeting me all the time to update. :) I'll try update again later today, I just need to read through so that I make sure I did not mix up the sl's.**

 **Love always,  
Gaone.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Heeeyyy, :) I'm updating today because I'm not going to be able to update this weekend. I hope you liked the previous chapter. It was pretty action packed huh?! :) Thanks for the feedback guys. And I apologize for the confusion, there was a part where it showed that Boden was at a meeting whereas he was still at the call, and then the part where Matt said he caught Lexi, he actually caught Nora and was trying to tell Lexi that. I hope yall picked that up. I tried editing but my wifi was down (WiFi was down in the entire country btw). It was a nightmar!**

 **I hope the next chapter doesn't seem to pushed ahead, It's kind of short, but I promise it's sweet. I'm not good at fast forwarding sl's or events. I tried on this one so I hope it doesn't throw the story off. This chapter follows the hectic events that happened after the call that had us witness Matt saving Lexi's life.**

 **Enjoy.**

 **Chapter 10**

"Hey warrior," Gabby said to her little girl who just woke up. She had been sleeping for over four hours after being brought to the hospital earlier in the day. Gabby had been sitting by her side the whole time. The doctors had assured her that Lexi was only in shock and her body would have to reboot on its own. She only stopped crying when her brother came by assuring her it was going to be ok.

"Hi," Lexi said before coughing. She tried to sit up but Gabby quickly stopped her and tucked her back in her blankets.

"Where's Lieutenant Casey?" she asked as tears started to form in her eyes holding on tightly to her blanket. Gabby turned to look at Antonio and turned back to speak to Lexi.

"Hey sweety, you can see Matt when you feel a little better ok." Gabby said as she pushed back a strand of hair from her daughter's face before placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Is he ok?" Lexi asked starting to get concerned. She liked Matt, he had been there when her mother was hospitalized, and he was now the one who saved her. She really liked Matt and wanted to know that he was ok. Why was he not there to see her? She wondered. Gabby did not really know. She had asked Shay when she came to see them but Shay didn't say much. Gabby had realized there was something Shay wasn't telling her, but she couldn't leave Lexi alone. She had to sit by her child, though she worried about Matt. He would have come by. Was he not just because she had asked for their relationship to not be anything but just physical? She was debating with herself. Wondering if Matt would ever want to see her. Wondering what she was going to say to him. He just saved her child and she wanted to thank him. She wanted to hold him and feel him. She wanted him to hold her and let her know that he wasn't going anywhere. She just needed him to be there so that when she cried he would wipe her tears. Why was everything so damn hard and complicated? Gabby screamed to herself. She just couldn't do it on her own. She couldn't bear the weight she was carrying anymore. Shay was there for her, her family, Boden, but it wasn't what her heart longed for. She saw it in Matt. Back when he saved her child and he stood there as they left, his eyes fixated on hers, she felt him. She wanted him close, she needed him by her side. She could see it in Lexi too. She connected with Matt even before she had the chance to introduce them.

"Mama?" Lexi said in her husky low voice as she lay in her hospital bed,

"Yes mia mor, I'll get uncle Toni to find out ok," Gabby said genuinely giving her daughter a shy smile before walking over to her brother. "Hey, do you know where Matt is? Shay didn't say earlier." She asked Antonio who was hesitant to respond and Gabby gave him a look pulling him to leave the room. "What's going on Antonio?" Gabby asked firmly as the two stood outside Lexi's room.

"OK. Uhmm, Casey is admitted, he something happened during the fall and didn't have feeling on his legs for a while. But they… Gabby!" Gabby started to walk away as Antonio was speaking. She couldn't believe what was going on. Her heart started to pace and she got confused. Everything was just one big mess. She was breathing so fast as she walked.

"Stay with Lexi por favor, I'll be back," she quickly said before picking up her pace. She ran down the stairs to ask a nurse where Matt was admitted but was met by familiar faces.

"Dawson!" Severide called her and she stopped to find truck and squad in the waiting area. "How's Lexi? Is she up?" Severide asked as he came to stand beside Gabby who stood still by the stairs. She didn't move. She was trying to read the faces of everyone there but only saw distress. Was Matt ok? She wondered. She felt something pierce through her heart and she closed her eyes shut as if trying to let the pain sink in.

"Casey…" was all she said and Severide understood. He held her hand and walked with her to the waiting area so as to update her. Everyone was now staring at her. It was as if her first day all over again, only she felt a connection to all these people seated and pacing around awaiting to see their friend. She wanted to burst out crying but held back.

"He… he suffered a major injury during the fall and…"

"Yea yea, I know that, I…" Gabby swallowed and took in a deep breath, "Is he, what are the, will he…?" Gabby gave in and tears started to stream down her face. Why her? Even when she tried to not let this man in, it seems like he had already stole her heart before she even knew it. How could he affect her this much? She could not understand a thing. Her daughter was upstairs in shock and was almost hurt or worse. And the man who had captured her heart and saved her daughter's life was fighting for his. "It's not fair." She cried out and Severide brought her in his arms. They stayed there for a while as she sobbed.

"He's gonna be ok Dawson," Severide assured her and he rubbed her back, "He's one hell of a fighter and he'll pull through, trust me."

"Family of Casey?" Doctor Rhodes asked as he walked in with Dr Halstead. Everyone got up and walked to meet him halfway whereas Gabby took steps backwards. She felt she wasn't ready. She wasn't ready for anything that Dr Rhodes was going to say. If he dare bore them bad news she didn't think she could manage that. All she wanted to do at this point was see Matt. Look him straight in the eye and tell him how much he meant to her. She had fallen for him and when she suggested they become friends with benefits was merely for her to still see him, but keeping her heart from being broken. But now, right at this moment, she didn't care. All she wanted was to lie next to him and hold him. Tell him he was going to be ok. Ask him to just hold on. She wanted him to hold Lexi. And keep her safe. She had tears in her eyes and she couldn't stop them from falling and she slowly walked to the back of the room.

"Lieutenant Casey suffered a complication along his waistline, he had to have an emergency surgery approved by the hospital. His body is recovering and you will be able to see him soon. He's resting now." He announced and Gabby heard everyone let out a sound of relief.

"Hey," Shay said as she walked in seeing Gabby standing alone at the back of the room. She just heard the update on Matt's condition and had to find Gabby. Though Gabby never admitted it, Shay knew how her friend felt about their Lieutenant. She saw it in both of them. At least Matt admitted it and had some weight shed off from him, but as for Gabby, she still walked around carrying all those emotions bottled in. All those feelings and pain she had to share with someone. Shay knew, and right at this moment, all she had to do was stand by her friend and console her.

"Hey, Is Lexi up yet?"

"Hi," Gabby said after quickly wiping her face. She swallowed, "Yea, aah," she cleared her throat and took a deep breath. "She's awake, ahh, Antonio is with her now, I…. I had to…" She couldn't go on, she wanted to cry as she felt so much pain hit her.

"I know sweety, he's gonna be ok." Shay said, knowing what Gabby was trying to say. They waited for the doctors to give them a go ahead to see Matt. Though he was still under drugs, he managed to smile and feel his friend's presence.

 **ONE WEEK LATER**

"I'll get it," Shay said after hearing a knock on the door, "Oh look who it is, if it isn't the beautiful Dawson girls!" She said embracing her friend who held her daughter's hand. "How are we feeling?" Shay asked as she knelt down to be in the same eye level as Lexi who stood there smiling. She was so much better. She had to be on bed rest for a day and had her mother by her side the entire time. They spend the whole day together as mother and daughter and Gabby felt it was good for them. She didn't know what she would have done if anything had happened to her child. Lexi was her life and she couldn't imagine it without her.

"Hola Miss Leslie, como estas?" Lexi said excitedly. She loved Shay. She reminded her of her abuella who spoiled her very much.

"Bien mia mor, mirate! How are you getting taller by the day?" Shay said picking up the kid before placing a kiss on Gabby's cheek who only smiled.

"Is he sleeping?" Gabby asked and Shay only nodded as they walked in.

"Would you like a smoothie?" Shay asked Lexi in her kiddie voice trying to get the little girl excited who did not disappoint. Lexi was waving her hands as if she was on a rollercoaster as Shay imitated a horse jumping up and down to the kitchen. "C'mon, Uncle Kelly just made some, and he put a secret ingredient, sshhh, it's chocolate."

"I heard that," Gabby said on her way upstairs and the two laughed.

A few moments later, Gabby found herself standing outside Matt's bedroom. Shay and Severide had offered him their spare room while he was recovering so that they take care of him. They came by all the time when they were on shift to check on him. Gabby's nanny Lorretta spent the day there after picking Lexi from school to help Matt out when everyone was on shift.

"You can come in," Gabby heard Matt say and her heart skipped a beat. She was holding a gift made and wrapped by Lexi and herself when he was still in the hospital. She swallowed and took a deep breath before walking in.

"Heeeyy," She said smiling as she slowly opened the door to enter, her head peeping in first. Matt struggled a little to seat up but he still smiled. She quickly walked over to fix his pillows so as for him to sit comfortably.

"Thank you," Matt said smiling. "What's that?"

"Oh, aahh, it's nothing, just, something Lexi and I made." Gabby choked on her words. She suddenly felt shy in Matt's presence. She handed him the gift and he smiled looking straight into her eyes making her blush. He opened the box and found a photo collage of Lexi wearing his Lieutenant suit.

"You brought her to visit the house?" Matt's words cut through Gabby and she suddenly had nothing to say. How did she not see how that could come through, she had held back on having Lexi at the house forever and only brought her when Matt was sick? How could she have not taken that into consideration? Especially to Matt. "Hey," Matt said placing his hand on Gabby's when he noticed that she was lost in her own thoughts as she sat on the edge of his bed. "I was just kidding. Lexi already told me."

"Really?" Gabby said relieved, she poked Matt on his bicep and they both giggled.

"Yea, she was so happy when she told me about it."

"Yea, it wasn't a long visit though, they just came by to get the house keys."

"It's ok Gabby," Matt said smiling.

"You can give her a tour when you get back. I think she likes you."

"Well that's great." Matt said and he paused to look at Gabby who was playing with her fingers. They sat there for a while in silence. No one said anything. Matt had been unconscious the two days he was in the hospital. He was up one minute and out the next. The doctors had assured them he was only getting better. Gabby never had the chance to speak with him. She never got the chance to thank him well. She only did that when they were told he was fit enough to go home. Severide and Shay had offered him their spare room so that he's around people most of the time. They agreed to take turns in the mornings to check on him while on shift, afternoons were sorted since Lorretta brought Lexi by and they stayed there overnight. "Thank you for everything. I really appreciate you coming by and also letting Lexi come by." Before Matt could say anything else, he was attacked by Gabby's lips on his. The kiss was soft and slow. Matt raised his hands to cup Gabby's head, he lowered his left hand to bring her closer to him and she did not resist. Her body was now completely facing Matt's as they kissed. Gabby jumped at the sound of someone knocking on the slightly open door.

"Mama!" Lexi said as she kicked the door open holding two glasses filled with smoothies.

"Heey you, let me help you with that," Gabby said jumping off the bed to get the glasses from her daughter.

"How are you feeling Lieutenant? Uncle Kelly said you're just being a baby," the three laughed at what Lexi had just said as she jumped on the bed to sit by Matt.

"I'm feeling great, I'm just enjoying your company so much that I don't wanna get back to normal life," Matt went along with the teasing, "and I asked you to call me Matt," the two giggled as he tickled her. Gabby watched them as they played and smiled. She stood there sipping her smoothie. "Oh, and thanks for your awesome collage, I should get back to work before you steal my job huh?" Matt said and the two burst out laughing again. This was their routine when Lexi got back from school. The day before was the first day Matt managed to go outside and they went for a walk around the block. Matt realized that Lexi was a free spirited child. She made friends with everyone and had a contagious laugh similar to her mother's. He also picked that Lexi was trying so much to be like Gabby with the whole tomboy look and tough character. The same way she handled herself at the call. The call that almost claimed one if not both their lives. Boy was he glad she was safe and back in her mother's arms. He looked up to see Gabby standing there smiling at them and he smiled at her. She didn't see it as she was lost in her own thoughts. Matt had picked that up as well, he noticed that Gabby could just be present but her mind somewhere else. He liked watching her. Most of the time she wouldn't notice it and he would just look at her. She was beautiful and Matt loved the sight of her. He just wondered how he managed to mess up the chance to be with her. He loved her daughter so much and he could see himself with them.

"You wanna join us?"

"Huh? I'm sorry what?" Gabby snapped out of her thoughts shaking her head. She smiled at Matt when she realized he was watching her. Their eyes locked for a second and Gabby cleared her throat.

"Hey baby, do you mind giving me and your Lieutenant friend a moment? I need to speak with him," she smiled at Lexi.

"Ok," Lexie said jumping off the bed after placing a soft kiss on Matt's cheek whispering a 'you're in trouble' in her playful kid voice. Matt only giggled tickling the little girl who then ran out of the room closing the door shut.

"Wassup?" Matt decided to break the silence, "Am I really in trouble?" he pretended to be scared and Gabby only smiled.

"No." she let out a little laugh. She then bit her lower lip and walked over to sit by the edge of the bed where she previously was. "I just wanted to thank you, you know, if you weren't there, I don't know what could have happened," she closed her eyes and swallowed.

"Gabby!"

"Just let me do this Matt, I need to ok,"

"You don't hav…"

"Yes. I do." She sniffed trying to hold back her tears. She didn't like the fact that she was crying so much these days. It was not like her. When it was just her and Lexi, she doesn't even remember coming close to tears, only on the day of Marco's death anniversary was when she would have a drink or two and let the tears flow. But that went away with time, especially since moving to Chicago and after having the talk with Lexi, that's when she felt the weight shed off. Lexi had been strong and understanding, though she was only a child, gabby decided to tell her about her father's death before starting a new life in Chicago so that they leave the past behind. She could handle anything, but she never thought anything like this could affect her this much. A man could just take over her whole being and make her feel this way. She just never knew how to deal with it. More so she did not want Lexi to be a part of that. That is why she had suggested they become friends with benefits. She wanted to shy away from Matt trying to get to know Lexi making her regret it if anything were to go wrong between them. But now everything was different. All Gabby wanted to do was sit there and watch the man she wanted play with her child. They seemed to have grown close especially that Lexi had spent more time with him. She felt it was necessary for her to do that. It hadn't been her idea, but when Lexi asked about Matt the night she got home and the whole day after, Gabby had assured her she will take her to see him when he left the hospital. Lexi had been ecstatic. She liked Matt very much. Ever since he stayed over when her mother was in the hospital and showed that he cared, Lexi picked up on that and she knew. She knew that Matt cared about her mother and she wanted her mom to see it. She liked Matt and hoped that he could stay around and visit them more often. She had seen that her mother was much happier when he was around. She smiled a lot and made jokes and Lexi enjoyed that. When she and Matt sat in the living room doing her assignment, they had talked. Lexi had told Matt that she liked him and she knew her mom liked him as well. Matt had smiled and Lexi liked seeing that.

"I do need to thank you Matt. Lexi is my world and I can't thank you enough for what you did." She paused and pressed her lips together, "I don't know how to thank you Matt." She let out a little cry. Matt sat there looking at her. Taking in her voice, every word she was saying. God he loved this woman. He thought to himself. "You risked your own life to save my child's, you're so stupid but incredibly selfless and just beautiful, I can't, I just, there are no words that I can come up with to tell you how much," she swallowed again and looked up at the ceiling trying to get her tears to stay in her eyes. When she dropped her head she was met by Matt's lips on hers. He lifted himself up to be closer to her as he pulled her closer to him. His kiss was soft and slow and he cupped her face to deepen the kiss. After a few moments he pulled away and they locked eyes. Gabby's were teary and he placed a kiss on her cheekbone where a tear dropped.

"Would you like to go on a date with me?" Matt asked, his voice barely a whisper and Gabby could feel his breath on her lips when he spoke. His eyes were fixated on hers and she felt cornered but in a good way.

"I think you've earned that," Gabby joked and Matt swung her throwing her on his bed and they both laughed hysterically as Matt tickled her the way he did Lexi.

"Soo about those rules," Matt held his breath testing the waters. He had his fingers crossed and was more than ecstatic when Gabby responded.

"What rules?" she said and they both rolled on his bed laughing.

 **Summary: Matt and Lexi both made it and they got discharged from the hospital. So much happened, Lexi visited the house (not shown here), Matt was home resting. Gabby finally talked things out with Matt and admitted her feelings towards him, well kind of.**

 **Next chapter: Gabby welcomes Matt into her world.**

 **Thank you again for reading. And don't hesitate to give me ideas, i get stuck sometimes and change the story up so many times, that is why i took so long to upload chapter 9. Trust me, the storyline changed drastically, that is not how I initially had Matt meet Lexi. Please review.**

 **IMPORTANT: The next chapter is not for kids. Can someone help me on how I can change the rating for the right audience.**

 **Thank you.**

 **Love always,**  
 **Gaone.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Heeeeyyyy! Oh My God! such a long time right. :D I'm soo sorry. I was so stuck that I even gave up and decided not to write. But hey, yall got some pretty persistent 'MWCBY' fans who just couldn't quit on me. Thank you guys. Hopefully, I will be motivated enough to update weekly. :) Thanks for your reviews and pushing me to update. I hope you like where this story is going. And with Gabby having a child on CFD, I think we can all see that she's going to be a great mom. On MWCBY, she already is a fantastic mom. How bout Casey? Well, you'll have to read on to find out.**

 **The next chapter is Dawsey central. Matt and Gabby have some alone time while Lexi is home with Shay and Severide.**

 **Warning: This chapter is PG 18. When you get to the bold italics, you can skip if you want.**

 **Disclaimer: I absolutely do not own any of the characters except for my beautiful Lexi and some other new ones you will meet on the way.**

 **Chapter 11**

"So where are you taking me?" Gabby asked curious as they drove out of town, "You know my brother is a cop right, and he knows I'm with you?" she teased and Matt only smiled. He turned to look at her and smiled.

"You're so beautiful you know,"

"Thanks, you're not so bad yourself." She said smiling and looking at him, she was blushing, "eyes on the road now Lieutenant," she said then smacking his hand and he laughed looking at the road as he drove. They drove silently for a while as Gabby looked outside her open window taking in the beauty she was seeing. The nature, the water, everything made her feel free and lighter. The light wind blew in her face and her ponytail was a mess. Matt stole glimpses of her every now and then. He smiled. He was glad Gabby agreed to come on this road trip with him, though he didn't tell her where they were going or what they were doing. He was just happy she's finally starting to trust him and give him a chance. He was surprised though that he managed to convince her to come with him after what Lexi went through. He decided not to even ask which might have gotten her to rethink their date. He was enjoying everything he was feeling. He had butterflies in his stomach and it felt good. He was a little nervous to finally get a chance genuinely to be alone with Gabby. He looked away from her to find the turn to his favourite beach.

Gabby was still looking out her window. She had both her hands folded and resting on the door frame her head resting on them. She smiled enjoying the view. She thought she needed this. She needed to breathe and do something out of the ordinary. Something that the Gabby she knew two weeks ago wouldn't do: and that is driving away to an unknown place with a man leaving her daughter behind. But something was different this time. Something in her mind and heart made her feel comfortable and calm. Shay had actually spent some nights at Gabby's house to be with her friend. She did that sneakily to convince Gabby to agree to go with Matt to his secret spot he kept talking about. Shay remembers him being so excited about it when he asked her to help him convince Gabby for an overnight getaway. He had initially said Lexi could come, but Shay never disclosed that. She pressured Matt to put that option aside and just invite Gabby. Matt was actually surprised himself that he managed to even put that on the table that it would just be the two of them. At first, Gabby looked at him like he was crazy, that night Shay had bullied her into agreeing to go with Matt.

 _"_ _That's blackmail Shay," Gabby had protested, "You can't use my daughter's horrible experience to get me to go with Casey, that's not fair. I can't just leave her…"_

 _"_ _Severide and I are here, we can babysit so you and Casey can get some alone time that you need. Finally! If you know what I'm saying!" Shay said mocking Gabby as they cleaned out the kitchen after having dinner. Gabby only smiled. She knew exactly what Shay was talking about. At this point, she knew that's what she wanted as well. She was just all of a sudden feeling insecure and shy when Matt was mentioned. Why her? She would ask herself. Certainly there were so many women out here in Chicago that Lieutenant of Truck could have. Women who would fall on his feet and crawl on his demands. But Matt was here, following her, a broken woman with a child and a past she didn't understand herself. Why?_

"Hey," Matt said softly as he nudged Gabby's shoulder before getting out of the truck. "We're here," he said excitedly as he came around to open her door only to find Gabby out.

"Wow!" was all Gabby said. The sun was setting and it shone on the water.

"C'mon, we'll miss the sunset," Matt said as he held out his hand for Gabby to take. They walked for a few minutes along the lake watching the sunset and listening to the beautiful sounds of nature. Gabby felt her heart sink. She could have never imagined a man like Casey swooping her off her feet and taking her on romantic beach walks in the sunset. Silently walking, each lost deep in their own thoughts, hand to hand. She smiled and when she turned to look at him, he was looking at her and she blushed. They both smiled at each other. Matt swallowed and took a deep breath.

"Thanks for coming," he bit his lower lip as Gabby looked to the ground kicking the sand. They still held hands.

"Yah, I'm glad I came too," she said as she looked up smiling at him. Matt squeezed Gabby's hand tighter and stopped in front of her. Her eyes grew bigger wondering what was going on.

"You hungry?" Matt asked before moving from Gabby's view pointing to the direction of an already set-up dinner table for two on the dock. Gabby couldn't believe what she was seeing. There were two candles lit she could almost smell the mandarin scent, a turquoise table cloth was dancing on the table to the rhythm of the light wind, and a young man in a well fitted suit and tie stood by waiting for them with a bottle of wine in his hand. They walked over and he welcomed them by popping the bottle.

"Mr Casey," the young man said as he nodded greeting Matt and the two men shook hands.

"Cam?!" Gabby said before hugging the much younger man who was so tall he could be in the line-up of a Basketball All-stars game. "Oh My God! What are you doing here?"

"Wow! Gabsta, is this really you?" Cameron said surprised as he picked up Gabby with his massive hands.

"Ok now, I told you to not do that Cam," Gabby said laughing and smacking his hand so that he puts her back down.

"Hi," Matt said,

"Oh, yeah, Uhm, Cam this is Casey. Matthew Casey, Matt, Matt Casey," She swallowed after realizing that she was rambling, "Aah, Casey, this is Cameron."

The two men shook hands again. "Yah, I reckoned you were Mr Casey. The man who booked this entire place for the weekend." Cam said smiling down at Matt as he squeezed his shoulder.

"So, how do you two know each other?" Matt finally asked. He would be lying if he said the embrace the two had earlier didn't bother him. He felt jealous and left out. He planned this weekend for him and Gabby, and not to be met by people they know.

"We were, Gabby and I, you know. A few years agoo… it's such a long story," Gabby and Cam broke out into laughter, clapping their hands, and suddenly Matt felt they were speaking a language he did not understand.

"Wait, how about you sit with us, I wanna know how your course went." Gabby offered.

"Oh no!" Cam protested, "It's alright Gabby, we'll catch up soon. Plus it looks like you two are on a date." He said winking at her and she blushed.

"Sure, another day," Gabby was astonished to see her friend. There was an awkward silence before Cam broke it off.

"I'm sorry I didn't come to Marco's funeral, I just..."

"It's fine. That was a long time ago and you know... It's fine Cammy." Gabby assured him.

"Don't call me that." Cam smirked and they both smiled at each other. "Well, I'll see you kids in the morning, ring 301 if there's anything you need." Cam said before kissing Gabby on the cheek and walked towards his chalet.

Matt and Gabby were left there in silence. "So who's Marco?" Matt asked as they stood there by their romantic table for two. He saw Gabby's face change and he knew that this may be something deep. She was quiet for a while before finally speaking. She cleared her throat,

"You hungry?" Gabby asked obviously avoiding the question. She didn't wanna get into this topic at all. Especially with Matt.

"I. am. Hungry," Gabby said after breaking her eyes off from watching Cam disappear in the distance. Matt held back a chair for her to sit and they locked eyes smiling. "This is beautiful Matt, thank you."

"You deserve it." Matt replied, their eyes still locked. Matt wondered why Gabby diverged from his question. He knew better than to push Gabby from talking about what she didn't want to talk about. So he put it aside. He will ask one day, or he could just wait for her to tell him when she's ready.

They had different conversations on different things over dinner. Matt surprised her by bringing a personal chef who prepared Gabby's favourite dish which made her happy. They enjoyed their heavy dinner with dessert and wine before taking another walk along the beach. The stars were shining and Matt had removed his jacket for Gabby to wear since there was a cold breeze. They laughed as they ran around chasing each other like they were kids before finally going back to their chalet.

"I'm sorry you fell in the water," Matt said unapologetically holding back laughter.

"What! You pushed me!" Gabby protested as she hugged her shivering body covered in wet clothes.

"Im sorry babe," Matt said trying so hard to hold back a laugh as he unlocked the door for them to go in and get warm.

"Here you go," he offered her a blanket, "remove your wet clothes and wrap yourself with that, I'll prepare a bath for you." Matt said before ducking to their room to prepare Gabby a warm bath. Gabby removed her wet clothes and wrapped herself with the warm blanket before walking to where Matt was.

"I'll be right there to get the fire going on the fireplace." Gabby followed Matt's voice as he shouted. "The rooms will be warm after you take your bath. Would you like to have a dri…" Matt felt a presence behind him and he suddenly stopped talking. When he turned, Gabby was standing there naked, the blanket he had offered her was at her feet on the floor. They stood there in piercing silence, Matt's mouth almost dropped.

"Well," Gabby said raising her eyebrows, obviously provoking him. "Is my bath ready Lieutenant?"

"Uhmm!.." Matt swallowed and suddenly lost his words. Gabby slowly walked towards him playfully.

Gabby didn't exactly know what she was doing, but it felt right. Her mind was telling her no, but her body was telling her otherwise. It was like her body had a mind completely on its own and it was walking straight to Matt. Naked! Matt stared at her. He didn't know whether he should look at her naked body or look away. He couldn't help but admire her beautiful body he hips curled and her thighs tensed every step she made towards him. Finally, he managed to move his eyes to meet hers and they pierced right into his soul he could almost feel her heartbeat screaming to be let out. She stopped right in front of him as he sat on the edge of the tub. He swallowed, not knowing what to do. He did not expect this at all. His plans only catered for sunset walks along the lake shore, romantic dinner, and then talk all night by the fire before sleeping in each other's arms. Nothing like this. He would have never imagined a naked Gabby standing right in front of him her eyes begging for his touch.

"Hey," Gabby said smiling as she realized Matt was lost in his thoughts. She bit her bottom lip when he didn't say anything. That's when she felt stupid. She swallowed and closed her eyes. "Oh My God! Matt, I'm so sorry," she stumbled trying to find something to cover herself but Matt quickly stood and caught her by her hand before she could walk away. Before he knew it, his lips attacked hers and they seemed to be in a kissing battle. After struggling for air, they parted their lips and Matt felt Gabby shiver in his embrace and smiled.

"You're cold," he said as he tilted his head to the left to get a reading of her face, "you need to get in the water before it gets cold" Gabby nodded and walked around him to get in the bath.

"You wanna join me?" her voice was almost a whisper and Matt swallowed. He put his hands in his pockets and scratched his throat before responding.

"Aaah, as tempting as that is, I need to get the heating running so that we sleep in a warm house." He never thought his lie would pass but Gabby didn't protest which gave him time to duck out the bathroom. When he was in the living room, he took in a deep breath and smacked his palms on his face. _'What the hell are you thinking?'_ He was angry with himself. He wanted Gabby, all of her. He wanted to be with her, to make love to her and let her know he wasn't going anywhere. But right when Gabby seemed ready to move to the next step, he chickened out. What was he scared of? He wondered to himself.

"The room warm enough?" Matt jumped at the sound of Gabby's voice behind him and turned to see her in her silk night gown, bare feet, no bra, and her hair wet. Gabby giggled seeing his reactions, "You ok?" she asked smiling as she put her hands on his arms. Matt could not utter a single word from his mouth and he wished the world could open and swallow him. Gabby leaned in to place a soft kiss on his cheek and she could hear his breaths accelerate. She dropped down and let go of him. She stared right into his eyes and he looked confused. "Ok, you gotta be straight with me, isn't this why you brought me here alone in the first place?"

Matt was shocked to hear what Gabby had just said to him. Did she just say he brought her here to sleep with her? He was stunned to hear her say that. "What? Of course not. I mean, yah I want you. I mean I've wanted you so bad for a long time but, I. I didn't bring you here to. To, you know, to…"

"To fuck me!"

"What! No!" Matt was now pacing. Gabby, I respect so much I would never do that, I swear…"

"Relax Lieutenant. I know you wouldn't." At this point, Gabby was starting to think there was something wrong with her. Was she too tipsy to think straight? She wondered. Before she knew it Matt lips were on hers continuing what they had started earlier in the bathroom.

He lifted her to lie on the couch and followed right after, taking it as slow as he possibly could. He quickly tossed off his clothes. She still had her underwear on and his boxers were still intact. He started to kiss her up her neck then went down her chest. Gabby could only groan at his touch while she played with his hair. He went lower and lower, until he reached a sensitive spot right below Gabby's belly button. She tensed and let out a little giggle giving Matt a sweet smile. He did not stop, he went lower and lower and Gabby started panting reacting to his soft lips that were teasing her body. His hands started to rub Gabby's legs up her thighs, she moaned at the thought of what those hands could do. Matt parted Gabby's legs and slid between them without getting any resistance. Gabby still had her eyes closed lost deep in enjoying every touch from Matt. Matt started to kiss her between her legs, his hands were on her hips as he mimicked lifting her to bring her closer to his mouth. He kissed her over her panties and all Gabby could do was moan to Matt's advancements. Longing for her lips, he decided to work his way up kissing her every spot. Their lips crashed into each other and they started to battle once again. Gabby wrapped her legs around Matt's waist locking him to not go anywhere bringing him to his knees. She decided it was time for him to stop teasing her, she has had enough of that from him already. She pulled him closer to lie flat against her body. And there it was, she felt him, how she made him feel. She was starting to get even more excited. Remembering their first night together, she decided they've had enough foreplay. Matt was kissing her nipples and sucking on them. She reached out to Matt's boxers and slid them down his legs using her feet to kick them away. Matt bit his lower lip embarrassed at the sight of his excitement when Gabby looked. She bit her lip and cupped Matt's face with her hands to face him. Kissing him slowly she ordered him to remove her panties which he did in less than a second. _**And that's when the magic happened. His first thrust was slow and gentle which Gabby moaned to. He was kissing her neck at this point and Gabby had her eyes closed and head tilted back. He went back in again, then again, and again. Now Gabby started to move to his pace motioning to a faster pace. They went on and on and on until they could not breathe anymore. Matt let out a big sigh and crashed on top of Gabby who held his head to her chest and she started to play with his hair**_ _._ They lay there for almost half an hour without saying a word. Matt was smiling and Gabby could feel it on her bare chest, which made her smile too.

"If you keep doing what you did the other night on shift, I swear you wouldn't be able to walk by the end of the week," Matt finally spoke.

"If I ever do that again, I would be out of a job and living in the street," Gabby replied in a low tone from exhaustion. "You wanna go upstairs?" Gabby asked,

"Am I allowed to do that?" Matt replied, "I mean, this 'friends with benefits' thing, doesn't it mean I gotta sleep on the couch?" He teased.

"Well, we can come up with our own rules, which we can draw out in the bedroom." Gabby suggested trying not to sound desperate to have Matt, and let him know she had changed her mind from that ridiculous plan. "Plus, I don't think we're done yet, do you?" she asked teasing him, Matt only groaned and got up to kiss her lips before picking her up to the bedroom.

 **Summary: Matt takes Gabby on a getaway by the lake where they finally get intimate. So much sexy Dawsey written all over this chapter.**

 **Next: Gabby slowly tries to let Matt into Lexi's life. Will there be complications?**

 **Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you for reading this. I hope you loved it, and I hope you were not freaked out by the sex scene. Please review. Let me know what you would like to see happen and all. Doctor Dawson update coming soon.**

 **Love always,**

 **Gaone.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey :) Thanks for reading and reviewing Dr Dawson. I hope you like where the story is going. As promised, here is the next chapter of MWCBY. And yes, it's filled with so much Lexi.**

 **Previously: Matt and Gabby go on a romantic trip together. Matt meets someone from Gabby's past, Cameron. But he doesn't get the chance to learn more about his relationship with Gabby. They finally share a special night together.**

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's short, but more is coming. :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own CFD nor it's characters. Just this beautiful storyline, Lexi, and Cam.**

 **Chapter 12**

"So what do you say we order pizza and watch a movie?" Severide asked holding two bags of popcorn in his hands and set them on the table where Shay and Lexi were sitting.

"Yaayy!" Lexi sang in excitement, "Can we watch Frozen Uncle Severide?" She was jumping up and down by the tall man.

"But we watched it last night Lexi bear." He said picking her up and swinging her in the air causing her to break out in hysterical laughter. Shay joined in by tickling her and the three laughed so much.

"But I loooove Olaf and the music," She said in between her laughter.

"Alright, just because you're just too cute to say no to," Severide gave in as he put the little tot down. "Shay, do us the honours please, I'll go order pizza."

"Sure," Shay said as she stood to prepare the movie.

The three watched the movie, had pizza, and shared some good laughs before taking Lexi to bed. Shay fell asleep on Lexi's bed while Severide slept on the couch.

"Miss Shay," Lexi whispered after waking up in the middle of the night.

"Yes sweetie,"

"Can we call mom?" Lexi spoke softly as she held back tears which Shay picked up almost quickly.

"Of course baby, c'mon, we can use my cell phone." Shay said picking up the little girl and they walked to the kitchen where her phone was charging. "I'm sure I saved their room number somewhere," she said as she clicked to find it. Taking longer than she thought she would, she felt Lexi's tear drop on her bare shoulder. "Ohh hunny, it's OK. Don't cry. I'm gonna call your mommy OK." She started to rock her as if she was a small baby which didn't help. It only made Lexi sob even more. She still tried to hold back from crying but the situation wasn't helping. She missed her mom and all she wanted was to be in her arms. She's not a crier, the only time she wasn't with her mom was when she went to the Dominican without her. But she was with her Abuella and cousins which helped. The other times are when Gabby was on shift, but Lexi felt like this time was different. She felt like her mom went somewhere very far away and was not coming back. She knows she doesn't have a dad like the other kids in school. One of the kids even asked her at some point and she made up a story that her dad is in the army and saving the world. They never really got into it with her mom. At this point, all she could think about is her mom not being around like her dad. She didn't want that. She then started to cry and Severide came running when he heard Lexi's cries.

"Hey, hey sweetie," he spoke softly as he lifted her from Shay, "It's OK baby."

"I can't find the number Casey gave me. I thought I saved it." Shay said in panic.

"Oh, I got it," Severide said quickly walking to the living room where his phone was as Shay followed.

"I tried their cell phones but they're not going through." Shay spoke again, "He said they would be out of reception and it would be rea…"

"Sshh, it's ringing," Severide said as he rocked Lexi whose face was buried on his shoulder.

"Hello," a man spoke after a few rings.

"Hi, may I please speak to Mr Casey."

"At this hour?" the man sounded unhappy that Severide had called. "Can't you ring him in the morning, plus I think he would be unhappy if you disturbed him right now." Severide sounded grossed out at the thought of what this man could be implying Casey's activities.

"Look, it's really important I speak with him." Severide was starting to get annoyed. Shay and Lexi were even staring at him waiting anxiously.

"Hello," Oh my God Matt, thank God bruh. It's really difficult to reach you man!" Severide was serious. The man had hung up promising to call them back after reaching 'Mr Casey' as he referred to him. Lexi had cried and stopped and started to suck her fingers which was something new they hadn't seen her do before. She was never a difficult child. Shay had babysat her before when Gabby doubled up her shifts and this never happened. She didn't know what could have brought this upon her this time around. They just sat there waiting which seemed to be a long wait before speaking with Casey.

"Is everything OK?" Matt asked, "Cameron says you said it's important."

 _"_ _Is Lexi alright? Matt what's happening?"_ Severide could hear Gabby's concerned voice over the phone.

"Lexi would like to speak with her mom," Severide quickly responded trying not to get Gabby a panic attack.

"Is she OK?" Matt asked,

"Would you hand over the phone to Gabby please?" Severide almost shouted getting impatient with everyone thinking something is wrong.

"Hello,"

"Oh hey Gabsta, everything is fine, don't worry. She just missed you that's all," Severide wanted to reassure Gabby before the two could speak.

"Hello," Lexi sounded over the phone and Gabby already had tears in her eyes.

"Hola mi hija, como estas?" Gabby said holding back her tears. She didn't understand why she was feeling that way. She never wants her child to feel alone or scared. It broke her heart deeply.

"Estoy bien mama. Te echo de menos." Lexi spoke softly. Gabby could hear from her breaking voice that she had been crying.

"Mommy will be home soon mi amor, OK." She said this looking straight into Matt's eyes as if telling him to get the car keys so they could leave right away. Matt was confused as he turned to see Cam standing there who was more confused.

The two spoke over the phone for a while and Gabby had to sing to get Lexi to sleep. Severide set her on her bed where he and Shay sat till she dropped the phone.

"OK, bye Dawson." Severide said after he and Shay left Lexi's room.

"Bye you two, we're coming back in the morning," Gabby said looking at Matt who only nodded. "I'm sorry you had to go throu…"

"What?! Are you kidding me Dawson, it's our pleasure. She just missed you that's all."

"I know," Gabby said almost regretting leaving her daughter behind, "I just…"

"Just nothing," Shay jumped in the conversation as Dawson was on loud speaker, "Now go back to what you were doing. Lexi is fine." She said teasing before hanging up. Severide just looked at her shaking his head. "What?"

"You really think they did it?" Severide asked knowing what Shay was implying.

"Mmhhm!" She said smiling as she jumped on the couch to have some leftover pizza. "What?" Severide stood there staring at her, "you mean you haven't thought about it?"

"How can I?" Severide asked as he lifted Shay's legs and placed them on his lap sitting beside her on the couch. They were pretty much whispering so as not to wake up Lexi. "The child pretty much had a traumatic experience just a few minutes ago when she realized her mom wasn't going to tuck her into bed tonight and all you could think about is your friends finally having sex!"

"Traumatic experience?" Shay seemed to be heating up with this, "I'll tell you a traumatic experience. When Casey risked his life to save Lexi from that damn tree house at her school and Gabby watching the whole thing."

"You clearly don't get the Dawsons now do you?" Severide teased and Shay poked him to go on. "Look, the Dawsons can handle anything. Be it hanging from trees, being kept hostage at gunpoint, running into burning buildings you name it. One thing they can't handle is losing each other. Anything that has to do with them saving lives or being hurt themselves if fine, but for Gabby to lose her child or for Lexi to lose her mom, now that's what scares them the most." Severide spoke for a long time giving Shay different scenarios trying to get her to get it. "They've lost so much Shay,"

"I get that, you're not getting what I'm saying," the two argued for a long time before finally sleeping on that couch.

…..

"Is Lexi OK?" Matt said concerned as he rubbed Gabby's back who only nodded before turning to walk away after mumming a 'thank you' to Cammy.

"Uhmm, thanks man," Matt said handing Cam his phone who still stood there in confusion.

"Is everything OK? What just happened? Who was she speaking with?"

"Lexi, her daughter." Matt swallowed. He didn't know why he just told Cam that, but it felt relieving. He felt like he needed to talk to someone.

"Gabby has a child?" Cam was astonished. "Is it your child?"

"What? No!" Matt responded almost sounding disappointed that Lexi wasn't his.

"Whose is she?" Cam asked more questions without even realizing he was probably invading Gabby's privacy. He felt that he was close enough to her to know these things. The problem was he was speaking to the wrong person.

"I think you should speak with her about this," Matt said. "Thanks again man, we'll check out tomorrow morning." He opened the door to let Cam out.

"Sure, no problem." Cam said as he stepped out the door, "Have a good night you two."

Matt stood at the door for a while before walking to the room he shared with Gabby. He found her in the sheets facing away her head rested on both her hands on the pillow.

"Hey," he said as he slid in the sheets. He didn't know what to do or what to say. He didn't know what was going through her head and that always scared him. He wanted to hold her, pull her to him and just hold her. Let her know everything was going to be OK. Before he could take any action, she turned and buried herself on his chest. Matt could only wrap his hand around her body rubbing her back.

"I shouldn't have come here Matt," Gabby whispered which pierced right through Matt's chest. He didn't wanna agree nor disagree with her. So he lay there quietly and just listened to her speak. "She wasn't ready. She isn't ready," was all Gabby said. Matt swallowed, wondering where Gabby was going with this. What she meant by Lexi not being ready. He didn't like the sound of that, but what could he do. He just laid there listening to her breaths becoming slower and calmer before they both drifted to sleep.

 **Summary: Lexi felt a sudden sadness when she woke up in the middle of the night missing her mom. This got Gabby thinking deep about her personal life (to be continued in the next chapter). Matt is left afraid he might just not get a chance to be in Lexi's life soon.**

 **Next: What will Gabby do. Is their relationship growing or stagnant. Gabby has to make really important decisions and Matt finally speaks out.**

 **Thank you so much for reading. I hope you liked this chapter. I will be posting soon. I promise not to take long, I feel so inspired right now. :) And I kinda miss Matt and Gabby, and now Louie. Dr Dawson will come up first then MWCBY after.**

 **Please review. 3**

 **Thank you lots.**

 **Love always,  
Gaone.**


	13. Coming soon

Hello Daswey lovers. I'm truly sorry for being absent for over a year. Wow! I'm currently working on My World Could Be Yours. I have to re-read my stories in order to know what story-lines I created before I can continue. I'm now pursuing a masters degree and have a busy schedule. But I promise not to abandon you again. Both Doctor Dawson and MWCBY are coming back soon. xo

Love always,  
Gaone.


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